Destination Unknown
by PrairieRose1017
Summary: Welcome back to Rio! Gwyn, Selena, and Diego Canary are now sixteen and their parents couldn't be any more proud of them. Nico and Sonora are loving their now peaceful life since the smugglers circle was broken nearly two years ago by the death of Nigel. Or was it? When some dangerous happenings come to Canary Corner, and Gwyn is kidnapped, will they ever see her again?
1. Chapter 1: Show Time

**HOLY FEATHERS I'M BAAAACK! Haha! This story is the one I had the competition for a while ago, and I would like to thank EmmerzK and ILOVENICO1000X from the bottom of my heart for helping me out with this one! You girls are AWESOME! :D This is going to be crazy, fun, song and love filled, and just plain nuts! Expect the unexpected and get ready to be blown away! :D **

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**Destination Unknown**

**Chapter 1**

**Show Time**

The full moon hung over the city of Rio de Janeiro like a gleaming white sun, as stars twinkled around it like diamonds. On a night like this, most humans were tucked away in their beds, dreaming sweetly; but not the birds, oh no. Nearly every bird in Rio was packed into the most popular club in the city; Three Amigos Music and Dance. This club was owned by its namesake, The Three Amigos; a band of the three best friends Rio had ever known. There was a huge party at the club that night, and what kind of bird would dare miss a thing like that?

Certainly not me. I stood in a canary sized spot on the dance floor, wondering where in the heck my hubby was. He had been gone for a little while, making sure the last little details were in place for the performance tonight. The club was incredibly packed, though, and I was scared he had gotten stepped on or something on his way back to me. Birds of every size, shape, and color were seemingly here tonight!

I turned around and cast my eyes around the club again, just to make sure I hadn't missed him, but I still couldn't seem to find my little sunbeam. I was just about ready to fly up to the stage and check there when there was a rush of feathers, and a pair of wings covered my eyes. "Guess who?" a voice that sent shivers through my body whispered in my ear. I smiled widely and brought my wing up to my chin as though deep in thought.

"Hmm…Pedro?" I guessed, and heard the bird behind me chuckle.

"Nope." He murmured, "Guess again."

"Rafael?"

"No."

"Well, I guess I just don't…" I was cut off when I was spun around and Nico pulled me to him; bottle cap, as always, cockeyed on his head. "Have we met stranger?" I asked and smiled as I tipped my head to the side in confusion.

"I don't think so, but I have to ask; was your daddy a thief?"

"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because someone had to steal those stars and put them in your eyes."

"Aw, you," I grinned and placed my wings on his chest. "That was cheesy, but good." He smirked as I pushed his beloved bottle cap back out of his eyes and placed a soft kiss on his beak.

Then, stepping back, and wrapping a wing around my shoulders, he asked, "Sonny, how many birds did they invite?"

I laughed and squeezed his wing, "It's their sixteenth birthday! You can't blame them!"

"Well, I said they could invite anyone they wanted, but holy feathers!" Nico grinned again, surveying the crowd. Our three brilliant chicks, Selena, Gwyn, and Diego's birthday was today, and they had begged us to let them host a big party at the club. After some playful antics, which we had overly enjoyed, we had agreed, much to the excitement of our _nearly_ full-grown chicks.

We spotted them flying up to the stage, and Nico sighed, "Why? Why are they so old?"

"I don't know…" I sighed as well as pictures of them as exhausted, fluffed-up little hatchlings flashed through my mind, "It seems like just yesterday they hatched." I nuzzled my head into the crook of my mate's neck for comfort and he squeezed me closer.

"Watch out people! Big P comin' through!" A very familiar voice soared above the roar of the crowd and headed for us.

Nico and I laughed and rolled our eyes, "Oh Pedro." We said in unison.

The red-capped cardinal in question finally managed to squeeze through the crowd and clear a bit of space so he could stand next to us. "Wowwy wow wow! This place is PA-ACKED!" He exclaimed waving his wings around for emphasis.

Nico nodded, "Tell us about it."

"Okay, well pretty much every bird species that I can think of is here, bird! It's unbelievable!"

"Not literally dude!" Nico laughed. "I don't see any penguins around." I laughed. _Oh Nico._ I thought lovingly, _Witty as always._

Pedro paused to look around sarcastically, "Oh." Then after a shrug, he continued, "But seriously though, how do your kids know so many birds?"

I smirked, "You boys know how info travels through the grapevine. Once you tell the popular birds, everyone knows about it in no time." We knew that better than anyone else.

"We can thank Ralphy for that!" My bottle cap wearing sunbeam added and we chuckled. That toucan had to know every bird in the whole jungle.

"Yeah, I guess all they'd have to do is tell Raphael and voila! Everyone is invited!" We laughed until somebody suddenly tapped Nico on the shoulder.

"Um, sir can I talk to you?" The voice was young and timid, and slightly familiar. Nico and I turned to look down at the young buttery yellow canary that had black lining through his feathers and intelligent, light grey eyes. We recognized him immediately and I grinned. I knew Nico was scowling on the inside, but outside he smiled, saying, "Sure Manny!" The boy nodded, then turned and flapped away; though before following, my papa bird threw me a frown. I lightly slapped his wing.

"Be nice!" I scolded gently and pecked his cheek.

"Come on, I couldn't _really_ be mean to the kid!" He said with a strained smile, and flew after Manny.

As he disappeared, Pedro scoffed, "Yeah right! It's obvious he hates Manuel-"

"He doesn't _hate_ him," I cut him off. Nico didn't have it in him to hate anybird; minus the few that deserved it, "He just…"

"Doesn't wanna let his little girl go?"

I looked at my best friend's red feathered face and sighed, "Yeah. I don't either," I cast my eyes back towards the stage where my chicks were standing behind the curtain, "But I know when I was growing up, my mom was SO protective and I hated it! You know how hard it was for me to get out and see you guys, let alone go out with Nico!" Oh the times my mother would tell me that a boy from the east-side was nothing I wanted in life, and that if he showed his face around the hollow she would pluck him bald. Several times Nico and I had to sneak out on dates…

Pedro nodded stiffly and I continued, "I don't want to be like that; I want the chicks to be happy. Nico wants them to be happy too, but he just can't bring himself to the fact that they are going to be leaving the nest soon." I sighed, and voiced my thoughts, "I think it scares him…"

Pedro nodded, "Scares me too, sista. The thought of letting my little Ellie go?" He shivered, "I don't want some boy carrying her off; I always want me to be her number one man!" He smiled.

I laughed, "I think Nico is the same way… I just hope he'll give Manny a chance."

* * *

I followed Manny outside and landed beside him on the sidewalk. I waited a minute while Manny shifted his feet in anxiety, and could barely bring himself to look at me. I sort of smirked seeing him so uncomfortable, and internally, I wanted to blow up and tell him to just spit it out. Yet, I had to remember what Sonny told me: _Be nice! _Of course, at a moment like this, I thought of how great Raúl was when I talked to him about Sonny, and realized how good I felt when he was super cool about it. That at least helped calm me down enough to be patient.

Finally, Manny sighed and looked up at me, fear and confidence mingled in his determined grey eyes, "Okay so…" He took a deep breath to try and calm down, "I… I really like Selena."

I kept looking at the kid squarely, waiting for him to continue, "Mhm?" I prodded nonchalantly.

Manny seemed to get more flustered after I spoke, but he continued, "So umm…I kinda wanted to ask you if umm…I could take…t-take her out on a…a d-date? Sometime? In the near future?"

I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out right. The kid honestly looked absolutely hilarious when he was frazzled; normally he was cocky and had high self-esteem, especially around my little girl… But instead, I took a deep breath and thought for a few seconds. _He's got class, and enough guts to talk to me about it. And Selena seems to like him, considering she talks about him all of the time with her mom…_ Finally, I replied in a semi-stern tone, "Alright. I want her home by ten and I don't want you taking her downtown or deep in the jungle; stay where you can be found easily."

His face lit up like the sun and a wide smile broke across his beak. Then he grabbed my wing and shook it furiously, "Yes! Whatever you say! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

I pulled my wing free and laughed a little, "Alright kid, don't hurt yourself."

Manny kept grinning and flew back inside to find Selena. _Oh how I remember that feeling._ I smiled remembering, for just a second, how it felt when Raúl finally told me I could take Sonny out. It just never occurred to me that I would be doing the same thing for my daughter. _You knew this day would come. Just calm down. _ I stood there for a moment more, gathering myself, then flew back inside to find Sonora.

* * *

"I know! He's so cute! You two would be perfect together!" I told one of my friends as we stood backstage gossiping about, what else, boys.

"Thanks. And what about you and Manny? You seem to be doing a little over the top flirting lately." One girl said and I blushed.

"Well we are boyfriend girlfriend now." Oh how I loved saying that! Manny and I had met at the beginning of the school year and instantly there had been sparks. Not long ago we had declared a relationship, and now he was talking to my dad about taking me on a date. _Let him say yes!_ I prayed.

"Selena!" Manny zoomed backstage excitedly, almost getting stuck in some wires as he did so.

I turned from my circle of friends, and instantly grinned. Quickly hopping over to him, I asked excitedly, "What did he say?"

"Weeeellllllll…" He smiled and teased me a little.

"MANNY!" I slapped his wing and smiled too.

"He said yes!"

I couldn't help myself, I squealed excitedly and threw my wings around Manny's neck. He laughed and hugged me tightly. I was feeling so happy I thought my heart would burst.

"Aww, well ain't that sweet?" A voice cooed over our heads.

I rolled my eyes and shot a playful smile at my brother as he looped over our heads, "Shut up Diego."

Diego grinned, looking exactly like dad, and looked over at Raymond, tilting his head towards the curtain, "Yo Ray, you ready to get this party started?"

"Man, I was born ready!" The young cardinal replied, also looking like a mirror image of his father. They shared a look and performed a very complicated wing-shake. I swear that thing had been growing more and more complicated, and lengthy, as time went on. Who knew where they would be by the end of high school?

"Sweetness!" They laughed after finishing. Then my cousin turned to me, "Come on Sel!" He motioned for me to follow as he and Diego glided to the curtain. But before the boys could walk out triumphantly, I looked around.

"Wait, where's Gwyn and Ellie?" My sister and cousin hadn't met us here earlier and I was starting to wonder where they were.

Suddenly, a crash sounded to our right and we whirled around. Gwyn and Ellie lay in a heap next to a crashed speaker; "Right here!" Ellie raised a small iridescent wing above her head with a smile.

Diego ran over to help our sister and cousin off the floor, "You alright?"

"Yup!" The girls chorused and giggled before calling, "Jinx!"

"Where were you?" I demanded a little agitated by the fact we were behind schedule.

Gwyn's smile dwindled a little, "Relax! We were getting something!" She waved her sunny yellow wings in a calming motion and pulled out a little sack.

"What could we possibly-" I stopped talking when I saw what she pulled out; three sparkly necklaces: a purple one for me (my favorite color!), a teal one for her, and a silver one for Ellie. "Oooo, perfect! Thanks sis!" I slipped mine over my head and hugged them both tightly.

They giggled, "You're welcome!"

The boys, tapping their feet impatiently, finally spoke up, "Come on, ladies!" They motioned to the curtain with annoyed expressions.

"Relax, we gotta get pretty!" Elena smiled and smoothed her feathers, then shook her tail in a frilly way that made us all laugh again.

"You girls don't need to get pretty," Manny cooed with a wink at me. My heart started to pound and I blushed furiously. Gwyn and Ellie, on the other wing, rolled their eyes, and Ray and Diego just snickered. Manny gave Diego and look and pushed him a little bit, "Don't you laugh; you've got your own romance goin' on!"

Diego shrugged his eyebrows, "Yup, and I'm proud of it." I rolled my eyes and lay my head on Manny's shoulder.

"Why's that? Cause you don't even ask her parents' permission?" Manny smirked at the cocky comment.

Diego's smile dropped instantly. I saw anger starting to bubble within him, and he clenched his wings into fists. My eyes widened and I shook my head at him not to do anything crazy, but suddenly mom and dad flew in. "Hey, you kids ready? The crowd is about to go ballistic!" Mom smiled brightly at us.

I covered for Diego, who was getting a questioning look from dad, "Yes, we were just about to head on stage!"

Diego recovered fully and grinned, "You guys get 'em ready, okay?"

"Okay, kiddo." Dad tried to tousle my brother's crown, but he instinctively dodged with a scowl that said "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Then they chuckled and flew back to the crowd.

"Alright guys, let's show 'em what we're made of!" Ray said bringing us into a huddle.

"We've done it once before." Diego winked at me referring to the dance battle we had challenged our parents to, nearly two years ago.

"Yup and we're gonna do it again." Gwyn grinned, showing a bit of confidence. I could tell she was feeling super excited by the way she fidgeted next to me.

"Ok. Manny, you ready at the guitar?" Diego asked him.

"Yup." Manny saluted and smiled at me again.

"Voice check!" Ellie called and we all sang, "Mememememememe," just to warm up and knock out the jitters. When we finished we laughed and returned to the huddle.

"Sweet sixteen canaries!" Gwyn smiled at us, and we laughed.

"Let's do this!" Diego agreed and put his wing in the middle.

"Family Forever!" Ray put in his wing and the rest of us followed suit, placing ours on top. "One…two…three… Let's do this!" We cheered and threw our wings in the air. One more deep breath and we stepped onto the black stage and into our positions.

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**Chapter 1 peeps! Whatcha think?**


	2. Chapter 2: Birthday Bash

**Alright! Here we go with chapter two! It is super long...at least to me. So read and review!**

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**Chapter 2**

**Birthday Bash**

Nico and I flew from behind the curtain and circled the club a few times, just taking in all who were there. We spied Blu and Jewel off to the side with their three chicks, Aaron, Brandie, and Jason. The Blue Macaw chicks were now thirteen and allowed into the club, with the exception of their parents got to be chaperones. "Jewel!" I called to her and we glided closer.

"Hey Sonny!" She stepped forward and we shared a hug, "This is crazy!"

"Tell us about it!" Nico replied for the second time.

"Literally or figuratively?" Blu asked and stepped up.

"Oh brother…" Jewel laughed and shot me a look, "Blu, you don't have to ask that every time."

"Oh…oh right…" He ruffled his deep blue feathers and blushed. Jewel chuckled and pecked him on the cheek, causing him to blush harder.

"You guys want to come to our table?" Nico asked breaking the awkward moment, and we hovered in the air again. Both parents shot a look over their shoulders at the chicks, who were talking to some of their friends.

"Oh come on guys!" I laughed, "Let the kids have a little fun."

"Well…I don't know…" Blu rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Where could they be safer?" I posed the question with a raised eyebrow.

"Only in the hollow." They sighed, defeated. Nico chuckled and the Macaws took to the air and followed us to where Pedro, Nora, Rafael and Eva were seated. The Toucans had allowed about half of their kids, minus the five that had moved out of the hollow, to come to the party.

"Hey Ralphy! Hey Eva!" As we landed they scooched over and the four of us took a seat.

"They ready yet?"

"I sure hope so! We've only been planning for the past month and a half!" I said and we all laughed.

"They should be starting any minute now." Nico smiled, and we turned our attention to the stage. Soon after the lights dimmed and the stage went black. Nico pulled me close and pecked my neck affectionately. "Here we go sunshine." He whispered. I smiled and nuzzled my head into his shoulder, showing him that I had heard. Moments later, the music started. A single light shined on Sel on center stage, facing the crowd serenely, her purple necklace glittering brightly as she started the lyrics softly…

_A word's just a word; 'til you mean what you say._

Another light shone on Diego to her right and he sang the next two lines just as softly.

_And love isn't love; 'til you give it away._

Brother and sister took turns with the next two lines, first Selena, and then Diego.

_We've all got a gift, yeah, something to give…_

Both finally sang together with a burst of energy. Bright and colorful lights lit up the entire rest of the stage revealing the other dancing teens. Each were performing their own moves; Ray breakdancing, Gwyn freestyle, Ellie hip hop, and Manny played away at his guitar.

_To make a change  
Send it on; (echo)  
On and on (echo)  
Just one wing can heal another.  
Be a part (echo)  
Reach a heart (echo)  
Just one spark starts a fire (all together)_

Selena sang the next line above the group, belting her voice out like I would sometimes.

_With one little action, the chain reaction will never stop. Make us strong; shine a light and send it on!_

Diego and Sel backed into the crowd of teens while Ellie and Ray took over the next verses, smiling at the crowd.

_Ellie: Just smile (Ray: Just smile)  
And the world (Ray: And the world)  
BOTH:  
Will smile along with you  
Ray:  
That small act of love  
That's meant for one  
BOTH:  
Will become two_

Gwyn and Diego took the next small segment, and led up to the chorus a second time…

_If we take the chances  
To change circumstances  
BOTH:  
Imagine all we can do  
If we..._

_ALL:  
Send it on (echo)  
On and on (echo)  
Just one wing can heal another (altogether)  
Be a part (echo)  
Reach a heart (echo)  
Just one spark starts a fire (altogether)_

Gwyn blasted the next part of the chorus with incredible vigor.

_With one little action, the chain reaction will never stop. Make us strong; shine a light and send it on!_

The harmonizing of all the teens voices made the crowd go nuts! All of us at the table had abandoned it and were now dancing away on the floor, smiling uncontrollably at our chick's performance._  
Ellie:  
Oh, send it on_

_Selena:  
There's power in all of the choices we make.  
Gwyn & Diego:  
So I'm starting now, there's not a moment to wait_

_Gwyn:  
A word's just a word  
Until you mean what you say  
Gwyn & Ray:  
And love is not love  
'Til you give it away_

Selena slid out to the front of the stage as she belted the next lines…

_Send it on (Selena held the echo out longer for extra effect…)  
On and on (Diego echoed strongly)  
Just one wing can heal another  
Be a part (Diego echo)  
Reach a heart (Gwyn echo)  
Just one spark starts a fire  
Gwyn: With one little action  
The chain reaction will never stop  
Make it strong (Diego: Shine a light)  
Shine a light and send it on  
Send it on (Ray)_

_Send it on  
On and on  
Just one wing can heal another  
Be a part (Gwyn echo)  
Reach a heart  
Just one spark starts a fire  
With one little action (Selena belted a higher note, harmonizing further…)  
Ellie and Diego: The chain reaction will help things start  
Make us strong (Diego: Shine a light)  
Shine a light and send it on (Gwyn: Shine a light and send it on)  
All: Shine a light and send it on!_

All six of their voices, Manny included as he sang in the chorus, blended perfectly into one rich, clear, and brilliant note. Each and every one of their faces were shining with smiles, and all swelled with pride as the crowd lost their minds. When our chicks posed, wrapping their yellow wings around each other, I couldn't help myself; my eyes filled up with tears. The darn things started softly rolling down my cheeks and I sniffled once, quietly. Nico noticed and pulled me to him.

"Don't cry, babe." He murmured, but as we pulled back I noticed the shine of tears in his eyes as well.

"They're just so big…" I whispered and received another tight hug.

"I know. I know." Nico replied from where his face was buried in my shoulder.

"Hey! Don't we get a hug?" As Nico and I pulled apart the chicks appeared and we immediately smiled and enveloped them with a hug and praises.

"That. Was. OUTSTANDING!" I told them with another sniffle.

"Aw mom! Don't cry!" Gwyn hugged me tightly and my tears flowed for only a moment longer.

"I'm not sad! I'm so proud and happy I could just explode!" I replied and looked her in the eyes; it was almost like looking in a mirror. Then I hugged Sel tightly, and turned to my son. At first he didn't notice, as he was looking across the club at something.

"LOVED the harmonizing!" Nico exclaimed hugging his girls and getting Diego's attention.

"Thanks!" Was all he said, and turned to focus on whatever it was across the room again. He turned to leave our group, but I stopped him with a cough.

"Excuse me mister, but mom wants a hug!" I spread my wings and received a lopsided smile, and one of the quickest hugs in all of history. Then the chicks flew off to talk to their friends. Nico watched them go, but he kept his gaze on Diego. "What is it, Nico?" I asked and stepped over to him.

"Diego too…" He sighed and pointed to a spot on the dance floor where he was talking to a cute buttery-yellow canary as she danced with some friends.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked and wrapped my wing around his waist.

"Nothing…I guess…" He stammered, "We'll talk about it later, ok sweetheart?" He asked with a pleading look.

"Only if you stop worrying for one night and dance with me," I grinned, "And save your son…" I pointed a feather at Diego, who was obviously flustered as he tried too hard to talk to the girl.

"Anything for you." Nico replied, getting in the zone and kissing me quickly. Then he twirled me around and walked away, motioning for Pedro to follow him to the boys.

"You little flirt!" I called and smiled to myself. _What am I worried about? Diego's got it in his blood._

* * *

"So yeah…" Diego ruffled his feathers, trying for the hundredth time in the past five minutes to make this conversation less awkward. He couldn't help it. Lillie was the most gorgeous girl he had ever had the pleasure of knowing. Her feathers were a soft butter color and her soft white down was visible throughout her body. Lillie had luscious long, black eyelashes that framed her angelic baby-blue eyes. The white patch on her chest was a deep cream color with little flecks of dark brown, tan, and yellow. She had moved to Rio three years ago from Paraguay, and ever since then Diego had the most incredible crush on her, but every time he got a chance to talk to her he couldn't seem to form intelligent thoughts.

"That was a really great performance;" Lillie said, a bit shyly, "You and your family are really amazing up there." Unbeknownst to Diego, Lillie was crushing on him as well. She blushed every time he was close to her, and couldn't help but giggle dumbly at everything he said. Those honey-amber eyes of his made her knees feel weak, but she was too shy to say anything about it.

"Thank you." He gave her a lopsided grin that made her heart flutter, and they just stared at each other for a moment; baby blue and honey-amber eyes locked on each other in a totally different world.

"Psst! Diego!" A slightly familiar voice called from behind them. The young canary immediately thought it was his father and internally groaned, _Why now? Why in front of the girl? _

"I guess I gotta go…" He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at Lillie sheepishly, "See ya 'round Lillie, and stay beautiful." Then he shot her a smooth wink as he turned around and flew towards the voice. As he landed, he looked around, but didn't see his dad anywhere. "Dad?" He called.

"No, but I'm here and I've got some advice." Diego turned around to see a Raggiana Bird of Paradise standing there with a wide smile on his bright blue beak.

"UNCLE TADEO!" Diego nearly screamed and jumped forward to wrap his wings around his uncle's neck.

"Hey there bud!" Tadeo wrapped his wings around the young canary and chuckled. "Now who's that girl?"

"Oh she's just…someone from school…" He ruffled his feathers and blushed.

"She's Lillie, and Diego's in _loooove_ with her!" Ray explained and jumped out of the way as his cousin lunged at him in an attempt to strangle him.

"Ah ha!" Tadeo grinned and patted his yellow shoulder, "Here's my suggestion," He leaned in closer and motioned for the boys to get closer, "Serenade her. That is always a way to win a girl's heart; and you being Nico and Sonora's son, I'm sure you've got something in the works."

"Well…" Diego hesitated.

"We should do that one song!" Ray suggested and gave his cousin a look.

"It just…It has to be perfect though…" Diego chanced a look over his shoulder at Lillie again, and smiled warmly when he saw her dancing with her friends.

"It IS perfect. We've been working on it the past three months! It _can't _get any better!" Ray exclaimed.

"Alright. Come on!" Diego laughed and spread hi swings.

"Wait!" Tadeo caught his wing before he could fly off, "Where's the rest of you Canary's? I need to talk with your mother, and say hi to your sisters too." He said as Diego stepped back.

"They're around; Sel and Gwyn are talking with friends, I'm sure, and mom and dad are over there by the bar. How are you here though?" Diego asked after thinking for a moment, "I thought you could only leave Kingdom Paradise during Carnival."

"Actually, dear, we were able to make an exception." An incredibly beautiful female Raggiana Bird of Paradise stepped up next to Tadeo. She had a graceful air about her and one could easily tell she was royalty.

"Auntie Arianna!" Diego wrapped her in a respectful hug as well. "I'm so glad you're both here! Gwyn and Selena will just freak! Not to mention mom."

"Nice to see you too," She smiled softly, and her light amber eyes glittered, "Now get up there and get your girl." She winked at him and the boys nodded while they took off.

"Tadeo?" Another voice sounded behind the two Birds of Paradise and they turned to see Nico and Pedro making their way to them.

"What's up, bird?!" Pedro jumped forward and immediately launched into a special wing bump. "I thought you were dead!"

"Not dead, but happy and alive my friend!" Tadeo smiled and they shared a bro-hug.

"I see you took care of Diego," Nico motioned to his son, who was flying back-stage, "I was just on my way to save his feathers." The bottle cap wearing canary's voice was strained with emotion. It seemed that a lot of things were affecting him that night.

"I'm sorry to have stolen your spotlight, camarada (buddy {Portuguese}). I just wanted to let him know I was here." He apologized.

"Not to worry, I think we had the same idea." Nico took a deep breath and pushed his emotions away. "We had better tell the girls though, so we can get a good spot to watch."

"Of course." Arianna smiled, then turned to Tadeo, "Where did your son go?"

"Oh…last I saw of the little scamp was his tail feathers heading for the bar." Both parents turned to look at the bar and spotted their son heavily flirting with a very un-interested drink girl. "TICO!" He called and snapped the boy out of his daze. With one last wink at the girl, he turned and soared over to his parents.

"What is it?" The boy asked with a cocky lilt in his tone.

"I want you to meet…"

"OH MY GOSH!" A very excited female voice sounded behind Nico, "TADDY!" With a whir of feathers, Sonora shot across the room and nearly tackled the father, in the middle of his scolding.

"Hey there Sunshine!" Tadeo laughed and wrapped his wings around her, and Nico turned a very un-natural shade of green. He allowed a bit of a scowl to cross his face, as the old friends laughed and held each other tightly.

"Oh I missed you so much!" Sonora exclaimed as they regained their feet, "You haven't been here since the chicks were nearly five!"

"I know! It's been so long, and I missed Rio so much!" Tadeo agreed, "But this time I brought the family." He stepped back and Nico took his mate's wing in his, pulling her to him rather quickly. She looked back at him with a warm smile and leaned back into his chest as Tadeo stepped aside to reveal his mate.

"Arianna, I assume?" Nico reached out a wing for her to shake, and eased the scowl off his face. She took it and opened her beak to reply, though Tadeo beat her to it.

"Arianna Paradise, Queen of Kingdom Paradise, and the absolute love of my life!" Tadeo said lovingly, and stroked her face with a flight feather.

"Flatterer!" She blushed and pecked his neon yellow and green cheek.

"Ah! But you deserve it!" He teased and kissed her back. In truth Nico was able to relax a little, seeing how much that Tadeo cared for his mate. Although Sonny seemed to sense his anxiety, and nestled closer to him, making his worries partially melt away. She was also subliminally telling him that they would talk about it later.

"Jeez dad!" A voice called form behind them. Tadeo and Arianna laughed and stepped apart to reveal their son.

"Nico, Sonny; this is Tico, our son, and prince of Kingdom Paradise." Arianna explained in a gentle, and elegant voice.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Tico smiled and took Sonny's wing in his and placed a gentle kiss there. Again Nico scowled.

"I'm Nico Canary, and this is my _mate_ Sonora." He emphasized and shook Tico's wing, while squeezing it a bit harder than needed. The boy took the hint, and nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry to appear fresh; I was raised to greet beautiful women in such a way." This earned him a slap on the back of the head form his father.

As this took place, the lights dimmed and a bright spotlight landed on Diego and Raymond up on the stage.

"Come on! Let's get a good spot!" Pedro called as he flew towards the stage with Nora on his wing. Tadeo and Arianna followed closely but Sonny held Nico back for a moment.

"What?" Nico asked and looked back at her confusedly. Sonny had her eyes hooded and she tugged him to her by his chest feathers; a self-satisfied smile tugged at the edges of her beak. Not to mention he could feel her warm breath on his face.

"You. Are. Adorable." She murmured and kissed him Long and passionately in the middle of the club. Nico was utterly shocked and could only stand there with wide eyes as Sonny kept her beak pressed to his. After nearly thirty seconds she pulled back and butterfly kissed his cheek with her long eyelashes.

"Wh…What was that?" Nico breathed as he floated back to reality.

"I can't believe you're still jealous for me." She smiled brightly and wrapped her wings around his waist.

"That obvious huh?" He blushed a bit and rested his forehead against hers.

"Blatantly obvious," She giggled, "But I want you to know that there is no bird _in the universe_ I could _possibly_ love more than I love you, and I would _never, EVER _leave you for _anyone_!" Sonny ran her wings up to Nico's shoulders and pulled him to her again, "I love **you**." She purred forcefully and shook him a little.

"I love you." Nico replied as he kissed her back and spun her around while holding tightly to her waist. As they pulled back they turned to the stage and rushed up to their friends together.

Diego turned and threw the thumbs-up at Ray when he saw his parents appear, and then young canary turned back to the crowd with a cocky smile only Sonora could love. "Alright guys, Ray and I have been working on a song for a while, and I think it's high time we gave it to you!"

The crowd cheered again excitedly, clapping their wings ecstatically. Sonora turned to Nico, "What are they performing?"

Nico smiled and shrugged, "I don't know. Some high-profile, top secret song they wrote that no one can hear until right about…now!" As he said "now" the music jumped and Diego spun around as the lights flared and Ray started picking away at his guitar.

_Yeah...Ohhh… _

Diego crooned smiling at his parents then focusing on Lillie as he launched into the song.

_She rolled in from the west in a summer sun dress; hotter than the heat in July! With her wind-blown hair it just wasn't fair, the way she was blowing my mind!_

He flared his wings out around his head as he sang the last part, and reached out to her, causing a now very relaxed and happy Nico, to beam at his son.

_Have you ever noticed every hurricane gets its name from a girl like this? She's the cat 5 kind keeps you up at night hanging on to the edge of a kiss!_

Out of the corner of her eye Sonny saw the girl Diego was apparently singing to blow him a kiss as she danced on. _You be good to my boy now. _She thought tenderly, and smiled as she remembered the first time Nico sang for her…

_She's a beautiful mess, yeah the kind you love to love! But what happens next, I got a feeling when the sun comes up;_

As he launched into the chorus, his sisters joined him on stage and danced in the background with incredible style.

_I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning  
I'm gonna wish I had a sign  
I'm gonna wish I had a little heads up, little lee-way little more time  
Some kind of radar system locked in on love  
I got a feeling by the time the night finds the morning  
I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning_

Ray turned the guitar over to the background music and joined Diego to sing the next verse.

_Both: Ain't it funny how it feels when you're burning your wheels somewhere between going and gone? _

_Diego solo: You get so lost that you can't turn it off, you give in and you just turn it on! _

_Both: She's a harp on a reign red lips like a flame she's the girl from your favorite song!_

Diego was totally into the song now; not to mention locked into his girl. Both of his parents noticed and shot him a look that said "Take her up there!" And as he blasted into the chorus, Diego did just that.

_What a beautiful mess! A one part angel, one part perfect, one part wreck! The kind of flood you'll never forget!_

He reached out a wing to Lillie, and pulled her up on the stage with a spin as his sisters danced up closer to him. Nico couldn't help himself, "There's my boy!" He crowed and pulled his mate to him, and kissed her quickly.

_I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a sign_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a little heads up, little lee-way little more time_  
_Some kind of radar system locked in on love_  
_I got a feeling by the time the night finds the morning_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning_

At this Manny joined Sel on stage, Gwyn and Ray started dancing in a complicated samba making the crowd go ballistic.

"And look at our little girl!" Sonny replied with a smile, "She's got a way with Manny."

"Ah, yes…" Nico coughed and changed the subject, "Look at Gwyn! She dances with the vigor and life of her mama!" He then spun her out on the dance floor for the end of the song.

_I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning  
I'm gonna wish I had a sign  
I'm gonna wish I had a little heads up, little lee-way little more time  
Some kind of radar system locked in on love!_

Diego twirled Lillie to him as he sang the line, showing her that he meant what he sang; she seemed not to notice, though, and spun out again. He was not to be deterred though, and continued to sing right to her.

_I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a sign_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a little heads up, little lee-way little more time_  
_Some kind of radar system locked in on love_  
_I got a feeling by the time the night finds the morning_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning_  
_Yeah, I'm gonna wish I had a storm warning_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a sign_  
_I'm gonna wish I had a sign, or storm warning!_

All three chicks finished with a flourish, and Diego pulled Lillie to him. "That, was for you."

"Diego…I…I…" Lillie stuttered, as the crowd lost their minds.

"What?"

"Umm…I have to go…" She looked at the ground, "Meet me at the waterfall…We'll talk there." With that she flew off the stage and through the door to the club. He was stunned, but excited. His first song had gone perfectly!

"Great job Diego!" Gwyn soared across the stage and hugged him tightly.

"I love you guys!" Sel abandoned Manny, who flew back to his friends, and wrapped her wings around her brother and sister. All three hugged tightly for a long while, as the crowd went crazy. Their birthday couldn't possibly go off with a bigger bang!

* * *

**So there you go... Third person is sort of my weakness, and I see it as super choppy. But I need to hear what you guys think. Also: Juliet116: that last part was for you! :D **


	3. Chapter 3: The Wisdom of Dad

**Chapter 3**

**The Wisdom of Dad**

We had finally made it home to Canary Corner at eleven o'clock, and everyone had washed up and fallen into their nests. Sonny and I had snuggled in, but she hadn't been able to fall asleep well the past few days. I had been singing her to sleep like I used to, but tonight my voice was shot after all of the singing at the party, and I wasn't able to. I was half asleep when Sonora spoke from where she was tucked under my wing, "There he goes again." She nudged me and I picked my head up off of hers and looked at her anxious eyes.

"What?"

"Diego is going on his midnight flight." Her voice was overflowing with worry as she pointed to our son's shadow sliding along the hallway wall. Of course he had to go out tonight to see who knows who, and do who knows what. Although as of tonight we had figured out the "who" part.

"Of course…" I grumbled and adjusted my bottle cap.

"I'll go stop him." Sonny said and stood.

"No," I objected quickly and pulled her back into the nest, "Diego and I need to talk about this. I'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, sunshine," I murmured and kissed her forehead, "Go to sleep, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Ok," She agreed a bit hesitantly, "Nico, please don't be too harsh with him."

"Don't worry, if I could handle Manny today, I'm sure I can take care of Diego. Now go back to sleep." With that, and a nod from my girl, I silently soared across the living room and out the back door. After I made it outside I glided to the front door, and waited.

After almost a minute, a yellow flash bolted out the door and shot to the right. I zoomed around the tree to cut my son off, and was able to get just far enough in front of him for him to run smack into my chest. I smirked at how he avoided looking at me; scared out of his mind, and waiting for me to chew him out. But I wasn't going to yell at him, oh no, I was going to torture him a little.

But he spoke first, "Dad! Uh, wh-what're you doing out this late?"

I literally laughed out loud and narrowed my eyes, "I think I should be asking **you** that, don'tcha think?"

"Uh… no…" He shook his head, "I'm just gonna…head back inside now…" He stuttered. Then he turned to go back inside. I stopped him though with one of my least favorite tones of voice; the fatherly stern.

"Stop right there." As I stared at the back of his head curiously, Diego froze. He knew I never spoke to them or Sonora sternly; but when I did, they'd best obey and pay attention. I glided in front of my son, looking into his eyes. I knew he was expecting anger, but, if anything, I was curious. After a minute, I nodded towards the treetops, "Follow me."

He was still skittish, but he had no choice but to obey. Together we landed on a branch and I said nothing and motioned for him to sit. Again he complied silently. Now, sitting here with my son scared out of his mind next to me, I realized I had no idea what to say. Sure I had a lot of things _to say_, but I didn't know _how_. It was strange, I realized, because Diego and I hadn't had much one-on-one time; ever.

So finally, after a few more moments of thought, I asked softly, "Alright, what's her name?"

Utterly shocked, Diego looked at me with round, fearful eyes, "Y-you know about her?"

I smiled, "Diego, I'm your dad. I know things," I allowed myself a deep chuckle, "And on top of that, you do the same exact things that I did when I was a kid; it's not hard to figure out what you're thinkin'."

Diego looked away again, not saying anything. My smile faded, as I realized that this would be harder then I thought; but I just waited patiently. Finally, Diego replied with a soft whisper, "Lillie."

I raised my eyebrows, and chose to try and lighten the mood, "Cute name for a cute girl." I commented.

Diego looked at me incredulously, "You know who she is too?!"

I laughed, "No; that was my next question."

Diego sighed and looked away again. After a few more moments of silence, I spoke, "Look buddy, we can sit out here all night if you want, but I'm going to get some answers," I was trying to sound like I knew what I was saying, but Diego was still wary, "I'm _not_ mad at you and I'm _not_ going to yell at you; I just want to know what's going on. Okay?"

Diego made eye contact, and suddenly looked guilty. I think he was just realizing what I had; that we never really talked man-to-man. He then sighed and ran a wing down his face, the way I do when I'm flustered, "She's from the east side, her name's Lillie, and she's great…

"Where'd you meet?"

"Friend of a friend of Ray and Ellie's. Just ran into each other one day," at that thought, Diego smiled and his eyes glazed over as I knew he pictured every detail of his first moment he saw Lillie. I grinned at my son's face, remembering my own life-changing first encounter with Sonora so many years ago…

I thought for a minute, then asked, "What are her parents' names?"

Diego's smile disappeared instantly and his eyes shifted a little bit. "Umm…" He paused fishing for a way to reply, "I-I don't know…"

Frowning I asked, "You honestly don't know or you don't want to tell me?"

Diego hesitated, "…don't…want…to…tell you."

"Why?"

"Because…you…probably know them…"

I was confused, "And that's bad because?"

"Because they just… you- ugh! I don't know!" He threw his wings into the air and stood. Then he started pacing, and I stood as well.

"Alright, calm down!" I said and rested my wing on his shoulder. Diego turned and faced me, "Just… tell me their names and let's see if I really do know them."

Diego avoided eye contact and sighed, putting his head in his wings, "Carlos and Carmen." He mumbled.

I mulled over the names for a moment, then realization hit me like a merciless wave; I had to do everything I could not to even mumble something negative that would make Diego feel worse. Almost a year after Sonora and I were reunited when she recovered from her amnesia, Carlos and Carmen lived two trees down from Canary Corner. On a regular basis, the ever irritable Carmen would try her very hardest to get under Sonny's feathers. For instance, Sonora and Carmen gathered food at the same berry bush one time and Carmen threw a fit. Childish? Yes. But we had decided to take it with a grain of salt and try to be polite; what else could we have done?

The real conflict happened when Carlos got involved one day. Sonny was in a rush one morning and sharply turned a corner, running into Carmen. Carmen had completely lost her mind, drawing the attention of all the birds in the area, myself and Carlos included. I watched from the front branch as Carlos came out of his hollow. He said one rude thing, Sonora snapped back another, and things were starting to get a little heated. I was fuming on the branch, but knew that Sonny could hold her own, and would prefer to handle it. The straw that broke the camel's back, though, was when Carlos lost it and dared lay a wing on my girl and slapped her across the face.

I had shot off the branch and hit Carlos square in the chest, and we hit the forest floor moments later, me beating the tar out of the punk (at that point in time I had been overly protective of Sonora, as I had just gotten her back, so to say), and he trying to defend against my enraged attacks. By the time I was dragged off of him by Sonny, he had a broken beak and a sprained wing, and I had blood pouring from my beak as Carlos had been able to land one good punch. I growled some…very rude…insults as him as he followed his mate back to their hollow.

The next morning, Carlos and Carmen were gone, leaving a nasty note on the door of Canary Corner. We had read it, and then gotten rid of it. Carlos and Carmen hadn't crossed paths with us since, until now. Diego and Lillie, Carlos and Carmen's daughter, liked each other.

All this ran through my mind in a split second, and I sighed softly, running a wing down the side of my face, unsure what to say. Diego finally raised his head, but didn't make eye contact, "So now you know… I'm practically dating your worst enemy's daughter," He took a deep breath, "And only child I might add."

I frowned, "Well, I wouldn't say 'worst enemy'. That stuff was just petty…"

"Petty but enough anger to make them move." Diego mumbled.

"The only reason there was anger, was because he hurt your mother," I sighed and decided to change the topic's direction when Diego looked back down to the ground, "So where were you going?"

Diego _still_ avoided eye contact, "The waterfall that divides the east side from the west."

"Why?"

"That's…where we meet."

"To do what?"

Diego shrugged, "Just to hang out. We honestly never see each other because she's on the other side of the forest." He stopped when he noticed my skeptical expression. "What?"

"Just to hang out? In the middle of the night?"

Diego knew where this was headed, "Yes! We just talk and stuff! We don't…do anything that wouldn't make you happy-"

"Definition of irony right there," I murmured and managed a smirk.

Diego stuck his tongue out at me and was able to smile, "Okay, so we sneak out from our hollows without our parents' permission in the middle of the night to see each other because that's the only time we have! I'm being honest so just trust me!" He nearly growled.

"Don't yell at me, Diego." I snapped, with an edge of authority, "I do trust you, but its part of my job as your dad to ask questions. If you want to go hang out with a girl, fine!" I grinned, "Heck, I did when I was your age! But tell me or your mom before you go, that's all I'm asking. If you want to go hang out after dinner or something, knock yourself out, but be back by ten, which means you need to take her home long before then because of flight time. I'd actually rather you be home before dark…"

"_Before_ dark?" Diego whined, and I raised my eyebrows.

"Yes, because that's when the predators come out, if I may remind you?" I said sarcastically referring to me catching him earlier.

"…oh yeah."

"Oh yeah, you didn't think of that did you?" I placed my wing back on his shoulder and managed to get him to hold eye contact, "In all honesty, it was your mom who noticed you sneaking out every other night, not me. She about flipped because she didn't want to wake up one morning and discover you didn't make it home or something; she hasn't been able to sleep well either."

Diego looked away, utterly ashamed; I continued, "We want you three to have fun and enjoy life," I said truthfully, and lowered my voice, "but we don't want you to have to go through all the dangers we went through."

Diego finally made eye contact, remembering the stories that we had told them as they grew up. I'm sure he was thinking about Carnival two years ago as well. We had been through many dangers and were lucky to have survived them all. Sometimes we almost hadn't…

I sighed and added, "We don't mind if you take her out sometime but just…" I hesitated. "Try to talk to her parents before you do."

Diego's eyes widened in fear; "Have you even met the dude?" I made a face at my son with a smirk, making him add, "Recently?"

I laughed, "No, but… it's like Manny today. You know," I paused, thinking through my words carefully. "I'm skeptical…about Manny. But just for the fact that he had the guts to man up and ask me face-to-face if he could take Sel out is enough for me. It's a respect thing; Carlos might see you differently than he sees me. He might think, 'Heck, he's a nice kid and he's respectful! I'll give him a chance!' And if he does," Nico shrugged his eyebrows, "You've got yourself a girl!" I slapped him on the back and he blushed, and basically took my smirk and put it on his face. "The hardest part is watching your back so you can keep her…" I added wistfully, looking down to the hollow.

I could tell my son was surprised at my wisdom when it came to getting girls. _Little do you know, my boy, I've got a certain knack with the ladies. _ With a laugh, he said, "I'm likin' all this info! Maybe I should talk to you about this stuff more often!"

I lightly punched his shoulder, "Yeah, you should. Your mom too; she deserves to be included."

Diego nodded, "Okay." It was then that I looked up at the moon's position; it had to be almost one in the morning. "Alright kiddo, go get some sleep."

Diego nodded again sleepily, and suppressed a yawn, "Kay…good man-talk!" With a last sleepy laugh, I followed my son into the hollow. Diego crashed into his nest on the other side of the room from where his sisters were, and, after making sure he was settled, I quietly rejoined Sonny. Gently I lifted her head off her own chest and lay it on mine, and wrapped my wings around her. I tried to be soft, and not wake her, but she stirred and looked up at me sleepily.

"Did you get him?" She murmured, snuggling into my embrace and smiling.

"Yeah, but go back to sleep, babe. I'll tell you about it tomorrow." I murmured nuzzling my face deep into the nape of her neck and inhaling her tropical scent, mixed with an extra dash of flowery essence from her perfume for the party. "I love you." I murmured and placed a kiss there on her neck.

"I love you too, Nico; you're such a good father." She replied and, if it was possible, snuggled even closer. Her words made me swell with pride, and I leaned down to kiss her fully. Soon we fell asleep to the sound of our heartbeat, and the thought of our chicks on our minds.

* * *

At noon on the following Tuesday signaled the end of the school day, and the chicks burst through the door to Canary Corner only minutes later. Nico and I looked up from where we were seated on the couch with wide smiles, and offered a "Hi!"

"Hey!" Sel called, and zipped into their room. Gwyn walked over and gave her dad a hug.

"How's my girl?" Nico asked playfully as he held our baby girl, but Gwyn just shrugged and made a face. Nico and I shared a look, but before we could ask what was bothering Gwyn, Selena shot out the door excitedly.

"Selena! Hold on a second!" I called quickly before she got out of earshot. With a frustrated rush of feathers she wheeled around and landed in the kitchen., tapping her foot impatiently. I put on a skeptical look and asked, "Don't we get to know where you're going?"

Sel just shrugged and replied, "Manny and I were just going out." Nico stared at her firmly, obviously peeved by her attitude, and waiting for her to continue. Finally our daughter sighed and nearly shouted, "We're going on a trolley ride!"

"Don't get sassy with me young lady!" I snipped back, with an edge in my voice that iced her temper immediately. "We only asked you a question; it's not our fault you didn't want to answer directly."

"Well it seems to me that you guys need to ask less questions…"

"Selena." Nico stepped in with a threatening tone of voice, that made myself back off, and Sel stop talking. She rolled her eyes though and looked away with her wings crossed. Nico continued with a level voice, "You know, the way you're acting right now I have half a mind to make you stay here." Selena visibly pouted, "But, since I told Manny at the party that he could take you out, I'm feeling gracious. Have a little respect for that and be thankful, ok?" Sel decided to push it and huffed, still not looking at either of us. "Go ahead." Nico sighed a bit reluctantly.

"Be back by ten!" I called quickly.

"I will mom! Sheesh!" She mumbled to herself and made herself scarce. After her sister was gone, Gwyn plopped down on a bottle cap bar stool as Nico sighed heavily. I noticed this and noted how he said nothing; he did his best to not talk about Selena's growing moodiness around Gwyn or Diego. It honestly drove him up the wall, but he didn't know what to do about it; neither did I for that matter.

I looked over at him and my eyes softened, "You handled it well, Nico." He avoided eye contact, leaning on the countertop with a frustrated growl. Pushing his bottle cap back he rubbed his forehead as he said, "I just don't know what to do about it anymore. She's just got to stop being so…grouchy!"

I smiled. Nico and I both had never been ones to appreciate grouchy individuals; it took the joy out of life, and we hated it. Now we were the lucky parents of one of the fore mentioned individuals, and we had to try and figure out a way to cope with it. We had let it go for a while because she _was_ a teenager and we had all been moody then too; but now it was going too far. She would lash out at her siblings, and Nico and I for crying out loud, over the silliest things.

Nico huffed again, snapping me out of my thoughts, and turned to go to our room. Quickly I sauntered up behind him and grabbed his wing. When he turned I planted my beak on his for a quick, but loving, kiss. As we pulled back I said, "We'll figure it out, ok babe? Don't stress over it."

He smirked at me, pulling me closer and said, "Anything for you, sunshine." He gave me another little kiss and we walked back over into the kitchen. Subconsciously, I started cutting up a papaya for lunch, and reached for an orange for Nico.

"Gwyn, what would you like for lunch?" I turned and looked at her, and for the first time I realized how mopey she looked. "Hun, are you ok?" Nico took notice and walked over to a stool next to her, while I leaned on the counter.

"Hey, what's wrong, baby girl?" Nico asked gently. Gwyn didn't look up, and only slumped further down in her seat. I frowned and brought my chin to rest on my wing.

"Gwyn, you know you can tell us anything, right?" I asked gently and offered a soft smile. My daughter looked at me and slowly nodded. "Ok, so why don't you tell us what's wrong?"

She looked away for a moment, thinking. Almost a minute later she sighed, sat up, fiddling with her flight feathers over the counter, and launched right in, "Not like I'm being a big baby or anything but… I'm the only one who isn't like…" she threw her wings up and made quotation marks around the next word, "'dating' someone. I'm seriously not trying to be all mopey, but it's kinda depressing when your siblings won't shut-up about it because that's all that matters in life… It just makes you wonder… what makes you different from them that they have dates and you don't?"

I could only look at Gwyn sadly. I knew exactly how she felt. All through high school, up until senior year when I met Antonio and Nico, I hadn't had a single boyfriend. I felt like I wasn't good enough, like I wasn't pretty, and my dad had done his very best to console me. But in this moment I didn't know what to say. Nico, on the other wing, knelt down on the floor next to her, and made Gwyn make eye contact.

"Hey, listen to me ok?" He said firmly, but with a caring undertone. Gwyn looked uneasy, but didn't turn away as he continued, "You are a beautiful, smart, and spectacular young woman. You are no different than Diego or Selena; things just happen at different times for different birds. There is _nothing _in this world that makes you less special. I promise you that there is a great guy out there waiting for you; you just have to wait until you meet him, and when you do," Nico smiled widely, "Things will turn out alright, ok?"

I could tell, by Gwyn's facial expression, she was like me when my dad had talks with me; she hung onto the words like they were priceless golden nuggets of immeasurable wisdom. Finally her face broke into her familiar, bright smile, and she fell off the stool with her wings around Nico's neck, hugging him tightly. My papa bird's smile got even bigger as he hugged her back, as she whispered, "Thanks daddy."

That did it. Tears filled my eyes as I watched two of the greatest loves of my life there in the living room, wrapped in a loving embrace. Then they pulled back and Nico tapped the top of her beak and kissed her forehead, "Anytime, baby girl." Then I sniffled and they turned to me.

"Aw mom! Don't cry!" Gwyn turned and immediately wrapped her wings around me.

"You chicks are just so big…" I murmured into her soft feathers, and let the tears fall gently. Then Nico came behind me, I thought to comfort me, but he overlapped his wings with Gwyn's and they smiled.

"Mommy sandwich!" They cooed as they hugged me tightly. I laughed and hugged them back the best I could.

"I love you guys!" I smiled as the tears dried up, and I placed a kiss on Gwyn's forehead.

"Love you too, mom!" My little girl replied and pecked my cheek.


	4. Chapter 4: Words Said and Actions Spoken

**HI! I am still out here...School just started and I haven't had ANY time to write whatsoever. So here you go, and just a warning... It is suuuuuper long. It's way longer than I would normally go, but I'm trying to get on to the adventure so these next two chapters are going to be huge! So thanx for being patient and stickin' with me!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Words Said and Actions Spoken**

Nico stepped away from his girls, giving them both a soft kiss, Gwyn on the cheek and his dear Sonny on the beak, and walked into his kid's bedroom. Upon entering, Diego looked up and murmured a soft "Hey."

Nico stood over Diego's bed, casting a long shadow over his son. He crossed his wings and smirked, saying sarcastically, "Don't tell me _you're_ having love problems too?"

Diego's face broke into a grin and he laughed. After a few moments, he sat up and shook his head, "No…well, not _problems_ just…"

Nico raised an eyebrow, "Just what?"

Diego shrugged, "I'm just…trying to think of what to say…"

Nico realized what he was talking about. He replied, "Ohh…" With a shrug, he added, "Just come flat out and ask, kiddo. It's a fifty-fifty chance no matter what you sa-" Nico stopped talking the second he saw his son's agitated glare.

Diego crossed his wings over his chest and replied, "That wasn't quite the response I'd hoped to get." He paused and sat up, dangling his legs over the edge of his nest, "How did you ask grandpa if you could take mom out?"

Nico opened his beak, but then changed his mind. Quickly closing it, he tried to think of a back-up answer, but Diego had already caught on. His face broke into a grin, "Oooo a story! This should be good!"

Nico looked away and laughed. "Umm…"

Diego rolled his eyes, "Come on, surely it wasn't _that_ bad!"

Nico's eyes widened at the memory. He only laughed nervously and called into the other room, "Hey Sonny? Diego wants to know how I asked your dad if I could take you out!"

There was a sound of ruffling feathers from the other room and Sonny suddenly burst in, Gwyn hot on her heels. Sonora quickly grabbed Nico's wing, dragged and shoved him out the door before poking her head back in with a sweet smile, and said, "We'll be right back."

With that she disappeared. Gwyn and Diego stifled their laughs with their wings when they could hear their parents' muffled talking from the other room. Nico was talking smoothly and calmly as usual, while Sonora's voice was a much higher pitch and much quicker.

Sitting on the bed next to her brother, Gwyn said, "Now I'm really curious…"

Diego only nodded when their parents suddenly walked back in, Nico a smug look on his face and Sonora a slightly peeved. Apparently he won the battle, but she would be present for the recounting of this tale.

Nico looked at his two chicks, his smug expression diminishing quickly, and being replaced with embarrassment. "So…you guys reeeeally wanna hear this story?" The looks he received from his chicks read "Duh"; he frowned and sighed. "Okay…" Diego and Gwyn waited patiently but excitedly for the story to begin. Nico cast a sidelong glance at the now amused-looking Sonora, sighed again, and began…

"Okay, so we met senior year, you guys know that…" The kids nodded when he paused, smiled wistfully, and continued, "We obviously became friends instantly and hung out as much as we could. But it finally dawned on me that I should talk to your grandpa. So I asked Uncle Pedro and Rafael where you're mom lived so I could talk to her dad and surprise her with the news." Nico paused again when Sonny put her face in her wings with a laugh; he frowned, "The funny part isn't even here yet!"

"Continue!" Diego pressed impatiently.

Nico exhaled and continued, "The next morning rolled around and, after some fun time at the beach, I flew to your mom's hollow… I… uh… knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. When the door finally opened, I was greeted by a middle-aged sparrow who smiled brightly and ushered me inside. Before I could say a word, she said, 'Oh, you must be Precious's boyfriend! Come in, come in!'" Nico paused with a sheepish grin, "I honestly thought that was Sonny's nickname that her mom gave her, so with a shrug, I followed her in!" He shook his head and his chicks giggled. "Stupid choice…"

Sonny prodded, "Keep goin!"

Nico glared at her and she only gigled, "So I waited in the doorway for a minute because the mom disappeared to go find her mate and daughter. I became increasingly nervous, but finally they returned…" He bit the side of his beak at the memory, a look of complete discomfort etched on his face.

Gwyn smiled and asked, "What happened?"

Nico shook his head as Sonora laughed at his expression, "The daughter was the scariest thing I have EVER seen in my ENTIRE life!"

The kids burst out laughing with their mom and he continued, "No, seriously! Not to be mean, but she wasn't even close to decently cute! I was skeptical about the whole situation anyway, but it was **then** that I instantly knew what a horrible mistake I had made…" He shook his head in embarrassment, "I went to the wrong hollow."

Diego held his stomach from the laughter he was experiencing, and toppled backwards in his nest. As he flopped onto his back, Gwyn gasped through her giggling, "So what did you do?"

"Well," Nico nervously laughed, "Before I could even say anything, the dad started getting all formal-like, saying, 'So you'd like to court my daughter, hm? What makes you eligible for such an honor?'" Nico laughed at the memory and added, "I tell ya', I just about laughed in his face! He was such a weirdo… but I digress. After a few seconds, I dumbly mumbled that I had gone to the wrong hollow… yeah, the father drove me out so fast I thought he was gonna kill me."

Sonny smiled, "I just happened to be flying by my neighbor's house when their door suddenly burst out and I saw my best friend flying out for his life. I managed to catch his attention before he left."

"As I recall," Nico smirked and stepped over to his girl, "You plowed me over."

"_You_ ran into _me_ for the _first_ time that day." Sonora grinned and they shared a deep look and smile from the memory.

Diego asked eagerly, breaking their moment, "And? What did you say?"

Nico thought for a minute, "Huh… I don't remember."

"WHAT?" Gwyn and Diego exclaimed.

Nico grinned, holding his wings up, "By the time I got there, all my fear was gone! I was just happy that I was at the right house!"

Sonny smiled, "I don't know the full details, but I know that Nico was just himself, and my dad was able to just be himself and they hit it off really well." Then they both shuddered, "It was my mother that took some convincing…"

Nico nodded, "Yeah, but she came around. The rest is history." He added with a smile, and they shared a long kiss.

Gwyn smiled happily, finally knowing how her parents started dating, but Diego sulked, "What was the point of telling us all that? I didn't get any helpful tips to asking him!"

"Diego, I gave you the two best pieces of advice I have for that situation!" Nico smiled, and counted on his flight feathers, "One, make absolutely _positively_ sure without a **shadow** of a doubt that you are at the right hollow!" Sonny and Gwyn laughed at his stressing of certain words, and he continued seriously but softly, "And two, if you care about her, it doesn't take some fancy, magical words to ask. Be honest, respectful and look as promising as you possibly can that you can and will take care of his baby girl. Chances are he'll give you a chance."

Diego looked at Nico in amazement, and then suddenly asked, "Where do you get your wisdom?"

Sonny laughed as Nico stood up straight, acting cool, "Comes with age and experience, kiddo. Someday ya' might just be as lucky as me." Then he spun Sonny around and ended with his wing wrapped around her waist.

Diego laughed, "Well, I'm just like you in every other aspect of life; looks like I'm in good shape!"

Nico smiled, happy to know his son was excited about being just like his dad.

* * *

Manny and I sat on the top of a beautiful trolley, leaning up against the gear box, snuggled up together, his wing around my shoulders. This was officially the best moment of my life…besides the fact that I was still steamed at my parents from after school. We were in the middle of talking about it though.

Manny winced, "Well, maybe you shouldn't be so touchy. You know parents only get grouchy when their kids are grouchy."

"That's true," I agreed with a sigh, but added, "But my dad has been so off lately! I don't know why, he's just so much quieter these days and constantly stares at us like we have junk on our faces or something. I don't get it." I shrugged with a sigh.

Manny shrugged, "Well, maybe it's just because you guys are getting older? When my oldest siblings left the nest, my mom almost went nuts. She couldn't sit still anymore; she always had to be cleaning something. Finally, my dad literally _made_ her sit down before she had a heart attack." He paused, thinking.

I looked up at him, highly confused, "And?"

"And that's when she broke down and cried into his shoulder for hours." He nodded solemnly, "Yeah, she just kept sobbing that she missed them even though they were only a few trees away…" He sighed again, then tisked his tongue, "But hey, she got over it. They still come to visit when they aren't busy with their kids and stuff, so it's no big deal now."

I nodded with a smile, thinking about how good he was with his little cousins. I had been over once when his sister was over and He had been incredible with the little feather-balls, it only made me fall for him all the more. I mean what's cuter than a guy who plays with chicks? Then I looked up at him and murmured, "Uncle Manny…"

"Hey, that's a highly esteemed position!" He declared with a smirk, not looking away from my eyes.

I laughed, "I'll bet!" After a few moments, I shrugged, "I don't know. My mom will probably cry, but I just can't see her losing her mind. She's too strong for that." At this we both nodded, "My dad on the other wing…" I tapered off, thinking, "He's a big softie, deep down. He probably just doesn't want to let us go." I looked away thinking hard about what that nightmare would be like.

"That's exactly what it is." Manny agreed quietly. After a moment of silence, he looked over at my pensive expression, and squeezed my shoulder, regaining my attention, "Don't worry about it, okay hun? When he's ready to let you go, I'll be right there to take his place."

I looked deep into his beautiful grey eyes, "Really?"

Manny nodded and added, "And I'll wait as long as it takes for him to let go."

I could feel my heart pumping faster, making my breath harder to catch, and my cheeks heat up with a blush, "Promise?"

With his other wing, he caressed my cheek, making the touch almost tickle, rested his forehead on mine and whispered, "With every feather I've got."

I smiled and looked down, breaking eye contact, but he had other plans and reached down, pulling my chin back up to regain the electrifying eye contact, and said firmly, "I love you, Sel."

I felt my eyes widen and my heart rate shoot through the roof as his soft voice landed on my ears. Then I smiled softly and murmured what I had been meaning to for a long time, "I love you too, Manny." Then, to the surprise of the both of us, he slowly closed his eyes and leaned forward. I didn't draw back, I didn't want to, just leaned forward as well, tilting my head a little until our beaks met. At first it was strange, then all of that melted away as my reeling mind realized that this was my first kiss, ever! Then I wasn't thinking anymore as I savored the soft, tender, wonderful kiss.

Manny slowly pulled back a moment later, breaking the kiss. At first I didn't know what had happened, but I blinked open my eyes, and couldn't help but beam at Manny, when our eye's met. He laughed a little nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, "Wasn't planning on that to be honest…"

I watched him and smiled, nuzzling my head under his chin, "It's okay." I replied quietly. He rested his head gently on top of mine, pulling me closer, and together we watched the sunset as the trolley travelled through the city we both loved, almost as much as each other.

* * *

Diego landed on the front porch nervously. Not long after story-time at his family's hollow, he had left to go talk to Lillie's dad. He stared up at the door fearfully, not wanting to knock but wanting to all at the same time… not wanting to face Carlos… not-

"Diego?" a quiet voice asked, interrupting his thoughts. He jumped and whirled around to see Lillie hovering behind him. He blinked and gulped; the setting sun was shining down, an orange glow glinting off her golden feathers perfectly, making her blue eyes sparkle, it took his breath away.

Lillie landed in front of him and waved a wing in his face, asking again, "Diego?"

Diego shook his head and stammered, "Oh, uhh… h-hi Lillie!"

Lillie smiled but looked around uneasily, and whispered "What are you doing here?"

"Umm… Well-" Diego started, but the door creaking open from behind him and Lillie's eyes widening in front of him stopped his voice right in his throat.

"Inside Lillie." A male voice snarled behind him.

Lillie sadly murmured, "Bye Diego." and quickly flew around him and inside. Diego turned around nervously and faced the voice. Carlos closed the door behind his daughter, crossed his wings and scowled down at the teen, making him feel like a bug that was about to get stepped on.

Finally, after a few moments of awkward silence, Carlos snapped, "Who are you and why are you here?"

Diego could feel his heart racing. He took a silent deep breath, and squeaked, "Hi," he frowned as his voice squeaked, cleared his throat, then continued with his voice back to the normal richness, "Hi! I'm Diego-"

"Not Nico's son?" Carlos's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Diego opened his beak, but nothing came out. His eyes shifted a little bit, his beak still agape. "Uhh… yes?"

Carlos scowled, "Did he send you to apologize?"

Diego raised an eyebrow in confusion, his own brown eyes narrowing, "Umm-"

"Good, 'cause it is about time. We've been living here for sixteen years now, and he finally sends a sad excuse for an apology." Carlos said nearly half to himself.

Diego frowned, but bit back a smart retort. Snapping now would mean he would never see Lillie again, and that thought forced him to wipe away his frown and try to continue, "No, I'm actua-"

"I'm surprised at you." Carlos interrupted again, "You _look_ exactly like your father, you don't have the carefree and outspoken personality he has." Diego did a double-take; everyone he knew said the exact opposite! Diego opened his beak again, but before a sound could come out, Carlos spoke again, causing Diego to sigh, "It almost makes me wonder if you can sing like him, too. I heard your father sing one time and that was good enough to pass as I'd say decent…"

"Can I ask you something?" Diego blurted, at the end of his rope. He didn't come to hear what this bird had to say to belittle his dad!

Carlos frowned sternly, "If you were my chick, you wouldn't get away with that kind of rudeness. I see that, strangely your parents lack in the discipline department."

"Trust me, my parents do quite well with punishments," Diego smiled sarcastically.

Carlos growled, "Apparently not well enough because you _keep-_"

"Can I take Lillie on a date?" Diego blurted loudly. _Enough of this!_ Was his thought before his widened as he realized how loud the statement had been. The look on Carlos's face was absolutely priceless however; his face was frozen with confusion.

He snapped out of his daze and asked defensively, _"What?"_

This was it; Diego knew that he was about to get booted for good. He sighed and asked quietly, but firmly, "I came to ask for your permission to take Lillie on a date." He looked up at Carlos hopefully, but didn't make baby eyes or anything; he only did that to his mom…it rarely worked anyway.

Carlos exhaled deeply, thinking about what Diego said. Diego stood his ground and stayed perfectly still, looking him in the eyes. Finally, Carlos asked, "You'd be the first to come here to ask about Lillie."

Diego honestly smiled and replied, "I liked her the first moment I met her."

"Where was that?"

Diego thought, "Umm… the waterfall. My sisters and a couple friends of ours were hanging out there after school one day, and Lillie and some of her friends stopped by. She knew my friends, and my friends introduced us to their friends and Lillie. We've been friends ever since."

"When was that?"

"About six months ago," Diego replied.

Carlos asked next, "What do you plan on doing on this _date_?"

Diego rubbed the back of his neck, "Umm… I honestly haven't really thought that far ahead… maybe go on a trolley ride or go to the beach? I'll run any ideas by you before we go anywhere!"

Carlos looked over Diego's head and said gruffly, "You sure seem willing to do anything."

Diego smiled and replied nervously, "Well… she's worth it." Then he was able to let his lopsided grin come to his face, and felt a little better. Carlos remained silent for the next few minutes. Diego nervously chewed the edge of his beak, waiting to hear the worst.

Carlos finally looked back down at him and said, "I want her home by nine."

It took the statement a minute to process in Diego's mind, but when it did, his eyes widened, his beak split into a huge smile and he nodded vehemently. "YES! ABSOLUTELY!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Carlos chuckled a little and rolled his eyes, "And _there's_ the Nico within."

"Yup! Been here the whole time really but-" Diego stopped when he noticed the scowl on Carlos's face. He snapped his beak shut when a flight feather suddenly emerged and pointed in Diego's face, "You can take her on a date, but it doesn't change anything between our families. Understood?"

Diego blinked and nodded, but Carlos wasn't done, "AND," he added with extra emphasis, "If you hurt my little girl physically or emotionally, don't expect _daddy_ to save you. You'll be hearing from me and you'll take what I have to say like a man. Got it?"

Diego's eyes were wide as saucers by now, but he nodded vehemently. Carlos stepped back and opened the door, calling, "Lillie!"

Lillie emerged a moment later, batting her eyelashes and looking very innocent, and asked quietly, "Yes?"

Carlos cocked his head at Diego and went inside. Her eyes widened and a huge smile broke across her face. Once the door closed, Lillie threw her wings around Diego's neck and squealed excitedly. "Oh my gosh, he said YES!"

Diego was surprised, "Wait, were you eavesdropping?"

Lily drew back with wide eyes, and said sarcastically, "I ain't droppin' no eaves!"

Diego laughed, "You hang out with Ray too much!"

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Lillie rolled her eyes, but they continued to hold each other in a loose hug. Gently they rested their foreheads together and gazed into each other's eyes.

Diego smiled, "Well, when do you wanna do something?"

"Well," Lillie thought, "Not tonight because mom has plans… how about tomorrow night?"

"Okay!" Diego agreed, "You decide what you wanna do, okay?"

Lillie nodded and pulled him to her again, and held him tightly. "I'm so excited!"

Diego hugged her back, never wanting to let her go, "Me too!"

Once they parted, he looked up at the sky, "Oh boy, it's getting dark; I gotta go."

"Oh yeah… get home safe, okay? Wouldn't want you to miss our date!" Lillie shot him a wink and a sly little grin.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for ANYTHING!" Diego grinned.

Lillie smiled, "Promise?"

"Promise." After another quick hug, he said, "See you tomorrow, beautiful." He winked, placed a soft kiss on her cheek, and took off into the evening air.

"Bye!" Lillie murmured, dazed after what had just happened. Then she smiled and flew into her room, wanting to document this moment in her diary so she could have the memory even when she was old.

Diego, on the other wing, felt totally bullet-proof! He pumped his wings as fast as he could, ecstatic to tell his family the great news!

* * *

It was close to eight thirty when Selena and Manny were flying through the darkening forest. They were chasing each other through the trees, laughing.

Selena called behind her teasingly, "What's wrong? Too slow to catch up?"

Manny pumped his wings harder and faster, catching up to her in seconds. He steered into her gently, pushing her over a little, "Well, would you watch where you are going?" he smirked.

"I am watching where I'm going; unfortunately, _you_ are not!" Suddenly, Sel pulled up and he looked ahead of him. He gasped and tried to swerve away from the thick patch of leaves hanging off a branch ahead of him. He was unsuccessful and received a resounding *THWAP* in the face.

"Oww!" he muttered, blinking wildly as he kept flying. Selena rejoined him, laughing at him. He looked over and scowled, "You're mean."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

The couple kept arguing as they flew past the well-known home of Pedro and Nora. They didn't notice the yellow blur fly out of the hollow and follow them from above.

"I am NOT mean!" Selena yelled with a laugh.

"Yes, you are!" Manny argued.

"You both are weird, that much is true!" A voice rang out.

The couple looked up to see Gwyn smiling above them. "Oh," Sel smiled, "Hi sis."

"Hey," She replied, gliding to their level.

"Where did you come from?" Manny asked.

Gwyn smiled, "I was at Uncle Pedro's; I was just leaving when you guys flew by, so I thought I'd join you."

"Oh ok." Manny nodded.

Selena asked, "What did you do all day?"

Gwyn shrugged, "Eh, nothing really. Talked with mom and dad for a while, and then went to Ellie's after dinner. How was your guys' day?"

They smiled simultaneously, "Good!" They replied after sharing a knowing, and very emotional look. Apparently they didn't want to go into details because they remained silent.

"Good." Gwyn replied softly.

Selena suddenly looked down at the bushes and hovered in place in confusion. Her sister and boyfriend stopped as well, Manny asking, "What is it?"

"I don't know, I think I saw something shiny. Let's check it out!" Selena grinned. Before they could object, Selena dove to the ground. They quickly followed her and landed next to her on the ground.

"Sel, we shouldn't be on the ground this late," Manny warned looking around protectively, and ruffling his feathers.

"I'll be just a second…" She countered, rummaging through leaves as she walked behind a bush.

Gwyn watched her uneasily as Manny scanned the surrounding area for possible predators watching or looming nearby. Gwyn blinked confusedly when a few leaves fell off a bush near Sel, and she saw multiple rows of thin, silver horizontal and vertical lines…

Gwyn gasped and flew forward as fast as she could. "Selena!"

"Hold on, I think I found it," Sel replied tugging at ne of the metal lines on the ground. Gwyn shot into the cage and pushed her sister out, just as the locks snapped and the doors closed with a metallic slam that echoed through the forest.

Selena gasped and jumped up, running to the cage walls with Manny, "Gwyn!"

Gwyn stood up and ran to the wall, holding onto her sister's wings through the bars and trying to keep calm. Sel looked at Manny frantically and asked, "What do we do?"

"I don't- LOOK OUT!" He suddenly tackled Selena into the bushes when a human emerged from a few bushes away. He walked up to the bush, picked up the cage holding Gwyn captive, and started to walk away. A few other humans emerged as well, holding their own cages filled with other birds.

"NO!" Selena exclaimed, "We can't let them take her!"

"Come on!" Manny pulled her to her feet and flew into the air quickly. Selena followed and they rapidly caught up with the humans. Manny distracted them by flying around in their faces while Selena tried to open the cage.

Gwyn called up to her desperately, "Sel, get out of here!"

"No!" Selena grunted as she pulled on a latch, "I'm _not_ leaving you!"

The human suddenly turned and saw Selena pulling on the latch. Using Gwyn's cage, he shook it roughly and flung her off. She quickly righted herself in midair and flew back to the cage; but this time, the human swung it like a bat, and the cage made contact.

Selena felt and heard her wing snap as she fell to the ground with a scream. She landed hard on her back, but the momentum caused her to flop and roll a few feet before she finally skidded to a stop.

"Selena!" Manny called desperately, landing on her side. He rolled her over and she cried out in pain, clutching her wing. She ignored her wing for a moment and watched the humans throw the cages into the back of a truck, climb in, and drive away into the night.

"No… Gwyn!" She sobbed and reached out her good wing to the truck. All adrenaline kicked in further when Manny picked her up, placed her on his back and flapped into the air. He had to get to Nico…

* * *

"See, it wasn't so bad was it?" I congratulated my son with a pat on the back.

Diego sighed, "It was…pretty frightening in some parts, not to mention he still hates your guts, but hey! He said yes so that's all that matters!"

I cocked my head to the side, "He _still_ hates me?"

"Not that we blame him," Sonora smiled, sitting at the table and flipping through a magazine. "You _did_ break his beak."

"He slapped you in the face! Why wouldn't I?" I exclaimed, throwing my wings into the air and walking over to her. _And he's darn lucky Sonny pulled me off of him…_ I thought darkly and wrapped a wing around her. _Nobody touches my girl and gets away with it._

As if she sensed my anxiety she reached up and planted a kiss on my cheek, cupping my face with her wing. I looked down into Sonny's beautiful green eyes, and smiled. There was just no way I could stay unhappy when she was around. Then we turned back to our son for more of the story, when he looked out the front door.

"Hey guys!" He called and we looked up to see Manny and Sel come through the door. It was strange at first, seeing Selena on Manny's back, but that was very short lived. Manny crashed to the floor, sliding across the living room on the rug, as Sel toppled off his back and wailed in pain. Sonora and I leapt up and flew across the room. She picked up our daughter and held her to her chest trying to get her to calm down before she hyperventilated, and I looked at her wing.

"It's broken." I shook my head. Then a frown came to my face and I turned to Manny and growled, "I'm going to ask this _one _time, and I _had better_ get a straight answer. _What happened?!_"

It was then I noticed the cut just above Manny's left eye that was still bleeding a little bit, and the absolute exhaustion that was in the boy's face. My heart started pounding against my breast-bone when Manny looked up at me and choked, "I'm so sorry…"

Sonora picked up Selena's head from her shoulder and asked her in a soft tone, "Selena, talk to me sweetheart, what happened?"

Selena held her face in her good wing and tried to calm her breathing. Panting, she sobbed, "G...G…G…Gwyn…" She couldn't continue as more sobs racked her body and she turned to cry into her mother's chest.

My eyes widened as my heart dropped. Desperate now, I turned back to the boy and held him up by the shoulders, asking frantically, "What happened!"

Manny took a few deep breaths to calm down, and Diego stepped up, placing a wet cloth to his cut. Finally, Manny said shakily, "S-she got c-caught by s-smugglers."

Sonora gasped sharply as though she had been slapped, Diego's wing dropped from Manny's face in shock, and I stepped back as my wings started shaking. My eyes darted around the hollow, and I was breathing heavily. _No…not another one of my girls…NO!_

"Dad?" Diego asked, stepping forward to make sure I wouldn't pass out.

I snapped out of my daze and asked immediately, "Where did they go?"

Manny struggled to keep composure again, but finally managed, "Sel and I tried to fight the humans to get her out, but one broke her wing so I couldn't follow them. They got in a car and left."

I suddenly snapped into action, "Sonny and Diego, take Selena to Albert to get her wing taken care of."

Sonny shakily nodded, though I knew she wanted to come with me; before I said anything else, Selena choked, "D-dad?"

I knelt in front of her and looked into her crying eyes. She sputtered, "I… I'm so s-sorry…" She burst into tears again and I pulled her into my wings, careful not to move her broken one. Sonny stood and started pacing as Sel cried into my chest and held onto me for dear life; as if letting go would kill her. I rubbed her back, fighting back the tears I could feel coming; after a few minutes, she started to calm down and I pulled her back.

Looking her in the eye, I said, "This is not your fault, Selena. Humans do this every day to birds everywhere." She looked like she was going to lose it again, so I added, "I'll bring Gwyn back."

Selena sniffed and asked, "But what if you can't find her? What if they leave Rio before you find her?"

I managed a small smile, and refused to be negative, "Don't focus on the 'ifs' sweetheart; alright?" Selena slowly nodded and I hugged her one more time.

Then I stood and went to my mate, "Sonny…" I grabbed her wing and she whirled to face me.

"I'm coming with you." She said determinedly, and even though her voice cracked from the sobs she was fighting incredibly hard to keep back, she sounded like the warrior she was.

"Hun, you've got to get Selena to Albert, or her wing won't heal properly, and she'll never be able to fly again." I forced her into a hug, and let her cry some of her tears for a moment while I stroked her head and neck. She buried her face in my chest, and I could almost hear our hearts breaking. After a minute, I pulled back and planted my beak on hers. I didn't know what else to do to comfort her for the time being, and as I pulled back I used my "thumbs" to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her beautiful face. "Be strong, sunshine. I'll bring our baby girl back."

"I'll try Nico…" She gasped and blinked a few times to stay the tears.

"There's my girl." I kissed her forehead and turned to my son. "Help your mom." I instructed him and Diego nodded ferociously. I walked to the doorway and stopped, looking down at Manny, who was sitting on a stool, his face in his wings. I could tell he thought he was going to lose his girl, and that we were going to hate him, but I wasn't going to do any of that. I bent down and pulled the teen up by his shoulders very gently. Manny made eye contact with me sadly, and I could see a few tears there in his eyes. He was fearing the worst.

I swallowed thickly and said quietly, "I don't blame you in the _least_ bit." I softly shook his shoulders, and made him keep eye contact. "You did everything you could to get Selena home in one piece, and for that, you're number one in my book." Then we shared a small smile, "Now I have only one more request of you."

Manny's eyes widened a little in surprise, but he replied "Anything Mr. Canary."

"Alright two," I stepped back and extended a wing, "Call me Nico, and please stay with my girls until they get back home from Albert's, and keep Sel calm." Again the boy nodded and I turned to Sonny, "I'll be back when I can."

Sonora nodded, saying "Good luck…" And I flew out the door as fast as I could. A two minute flight later, I landed in Pedro's hollow. The family was currently playing a game on the floor, but looked up and smiled when he walked in.

"Hey… man…" Pedro's smile diminished into a frown at my expression. "You alright?"

"No." I sighed, biting back tears again; before I completely lost it, though, I added quickly, "I need you to come with me."

Pedro nodded and stood, "You two listen to your mama." The kids nodded and they watched with Nora as their dad followed me out the door. "What's wrong bro?"

"Gwyn is gone." I choked.

"What!?" Pedro gasped, "She was just here!"

"I know. Sel and Manny just burst through the door, Sel with a broken wing, and Manny with some bumps and bruises, and said that Gwyn got taken by smugglers."

"NO!" The cardinal nearly screamed.

"We need to go and look for her!" I replied.

"Ok just let me tell Nora." He went inside and I started pacing. Almost a minute later he returned and we flew off into the sunset. _Hold on baby girl! I'm coming!_

* * *

I shivered in the cage, wrapping my wings around myself to keep warm. The stupid humans had the AC blasting in the truck and we were all freezing. I had been in the cage for hours now, but I had no idea how many. The third stop we made I heard a loud struggle and yet another cage was chucked inside.

"How dare you touch my father?!" The voice sounded a bit familiar, but it had been so long since I had heard it, I couldn't be sure.

"Tico! Get out of here and get your mother and aunt Sonora! They'll be able to help!" It was, as I feared. The voice belonged to a bird in a cage that was thrown directly above mine.

"Uncle Tadeo!" I cried and leapt up to the roof of my cage and he looked down with a gasp.

"No…Gwyn!" He knelt down to the floor and took my wing through the bars. "Minha sobrinha doce (my sweet niece)! How did you end up here?" I couldn't explain without crying so I just shook my head and tried to get closer to him. The humans returned to the car and we drove for a while before we stopped again.

Suddenly, the doors of the truck opened and the silhouette of a human scared us half to death. We jumped back and I pressed myself to the back of the cage, while my uncle squawked and pecked at the man's hand; he was left on top of my cage and we were both carried out of the truck and into an airplane.

"No…" I whispered. I turned and looked at the forest around us; I looked longingly at the Corcovado Mountain where the Cristo Redentor stood at the peak. _Help us!_ I cried out to Him, hoping he could hear me.

"You horrible humans will be sorry!" Tadeo cried shaking a wing at them, but it was no use. The man sat our cage down and stacked more and more around us, and my home became more difficult to see. After ten minutes, I could just see the morning rays of sunlight stretching across the periwinkle sky and the human closed the hatch, shutting us away from our homeland forever.

* * *

**Please Review! I need a review! I haven't had one in so long...;)**


	5. Chapter 5: Complications

**Rather fast I know! Enjoy it! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Complications**

Pedro, Rafael and Blu were flying silently over the city around noon the next day. The gang had gathered a bird from every family they knew to search for Gwyn in trucks, airplanes, helicopters, and any other place imaginable. Eighteen hours later, and still, no one had found a trace of her whereabouts.

As they neared the beach, Rafael surveyed the ground below for a millionth time. He took a quick glance at Pedro and Blu, who were beginning to lag behind from exhaustion. He slowed and turned to them, asking, "You two okay?"

"Yeah, just tired." Pedro replied. Blu merely nodded in agreement as he was stared off across the sand, a look of confusion on his face.

Finally, he said, "Umm… is that Nico?"

Rafael and Pedro turned in the direction in which he was looking. Sure enough, on an isolated picnic table in the distance sat Nico, facing the water, his knees drawn up, and face in his wings. Without a word, Rafael led the way to the table. The three friends landed softly behind him, appreciating the rest and remaining silent. Rafael watched the waves crash onto the beach and listened to the soft breeze rushing by. Finally, he decided to make their presences known.

"Nico?" He murmured, reaching out a wing to his friend. At first, the canary didn't move. After a few moments, he slowly lifted his head out of his wings and rested his chin on a fist, still remaining silent. His friends could see how pale his face was, and how incredibly exhausted he looked. Taking a small step toward him, Rafael asked, "Are you alright?"

Nico exhaled a miniscule scoff and murmured, "Why would you even ask me that?"

Rafael winced; he didn't know why he asked Nico that. After a minute, he changed the subject, "The group has searched every plane and airport and the trucks nearby. Nobody has found anything, but we are still more than willing to keep looking."

Nico rubbed his eyes with his wing, sighed heavily and shook his head softly. Rafael did a double-take; that was the last thing he expected Nico to do!

"Are you giving up?" Rafael asked incredulously.

Nico stood and faced his friends, "What more can I do, Ralphy?"

Their eyes widened at his depressed expression and agonized tone; he continued, "We've looked everywhere…" With a sigh, he looked away and added, "She isn't here anymore…"

Pedro, having remained silent until now, spoke up reassuringly, "You don't know that, bro."

"He's right, Nico," Rafael added, "There's no guarantee that she's been taken out of Rio yet."

Nico ran a wing down his face, replying, "I don't know what else to do, guys… I don't want to stop looking, but I've looked everywhere you guys have at _least_ three times…" Rafael knew that was true; for every round a bird made during the night, Nico made at least three… and everyone had made multiple rounds throughout the night and day…

Nico added in a murmur, "But I can't leave Sonora and the kids hanging anymore…" Then he choked out the painful reality, "I have to go home…" Rafael softly nodded. After a moment, Nico walked to the edge of the table; before taking off, he paused and said, "If you guys or the others want to keep looking, that's fine. You know where to find me…" His friends all nodded and watched as he slowly lifted off the table and headed for home.

* * *

I watched as Diego handed Selena a bowl of water, which she took gratefully. She sipped it calmly in her nest as he sat back on a stool beside her bed. He and I had taken her to Albert, who set the bones right in her wing (while Manny held her other wing for comfort) and wrapped it in a cast; afterwards, he allowed us to take her home, but he insisted she stay in bed for the next day or so. All the adrenaline from the night would surely wear her out.

After returning home, Diego helped his sister with whatever she needed. He got her water, kept her warm, made sure she didn't get too warm, helped her eat if she was hungry and whatever else was needed. She wasn't completely handicapped, but he feared for her, as did I, to the extent that he wouldn't let her do much on her own.

Now he sat on a stool beside her bed sleepily, trying to stay awake. Just a little while ago he had returned home from flying Manny home, just to make sure he got there ok. None of us had slept throughout the night, though, because of our worry for Gwyn. We had all holed up in the chick's room and stayed there all night wrapped up in each other's wings. Selena was drifting off, and so was Diego, so I stood, planted a kiss on each of their foreheads, and walked into the living room.

The rug was still bunched up and crooked from when Manny had fallen, and I bent over to take it outside and shake it. I stepped onto the front branch, and started to shake the dirt out of the rug, when I felt a presence behind me. I lay the rug on the branch and turned to see Nico there.

He was sickeningly pale, and he looked like he had just flown across the ocean. His gorgeous amber-brown eyes were bloodshot, but he didn't look at me directly, just walked into the hollow. My heart dropped. I picked up the rug and followed him in, placing the rug back in its spot as I did. After I smoothed out the last corner I stepped a little closer to him, but didn't get too close.

I waited patiently as he leaned up against the counter, his face in his wings. He looked so hopeless that I felt fear enveloping me; it was so cold that I started to shiver. After the agonizing silence going on for about a minute, I couldn't take it anymore, "Nico?" He turned his head towards me slowly, finally making eye contact. My blood froze, but I managed to croak out, "Where is my baby?"

The pain in Nico's eyes told me all I needed to know, making one of my wings fly to my mouth and the other over my heart. He closed his eyes and looked away barely managing to whisper hoarsely, "I don't know, Sonora."

"NO!" I didn't feel anything else than the pain in my chest. No, this wasn't pain like Phillip had inflicted upon me; it was deeper, harsher, and made me collapse into sobs. I fell to the floor my face buried in my wings wailing "No…no…no…no…"

"I'm so sorry, Sonny!" Immediately I felt him behind me and turned to sob into his chest. Nico buried his face in my shoulder and was also shaking from his own sobs. We sat there holding each other tightly, sobbing and crying on the floor of our beloved hollow, knowing full well, that we may never see our little girl ever again, and that our family would never be the same…

* * *

I had blearily heard the mechanical sounds of the plane throughout the whole flight, but now there was a different noise, and it sounded much closer. I stood from where I was huddled as close as I could be to Uncle Tadeo. His cage had been moved and placed next to mine, and I hadn't left his side. The bars on our cages were just wide enough that he could stick his wing through and was able to wrap it around me to keep me warm.

But now the coldness of the hold where we were hit me full force and I had to force myself not to shiver. I looked around to see that most of the birds were still alive and mostly awake. The noise I realized was coming from the wheels that were being lowered outside the plane, and suddenly we touched down. The entire metal prison jumped and we were all thrown around; I flew backwards and hit my head on the wall of my cage.

"What a lovely wake-up call…" Tadeo grumbled. I looked over at him and laughed. He was upside down in the corner of his cage with his wings spread out on either side of him, and his long, wispy, salmon colored tail feathers fell down over his face in a curtain that only showed his bright blue beak.

"Are you alright?" I gasped through my giggles.

"Of course, little one." He replied, and with a flourish of feathers he righted himself and walked back over to me. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough, I suppose." I replied. We stood there, trying not to think about what situation was, as the plane finally stopped. Two minutes later the hatch flew open and I groaned closing my eyes against the afternoon light. Then when my eyes finally adjusted, I nearly screamed and jumped back against the wall of the cage as the hated human came forward and grabbed my cage. I expected him to place my uncle's cage on top of mine as he had last time, but I really started freaking out when he didn't.

Thinking quickly I ran up to where his hands held the cage and pecked at his fingers as hard as I could. With a yelp I was dropped and a string of curses flew out of the man's mouth.

"Tadeo!" I screamed and reached out a wing for the only family I had left.

"Don't worry Doce! I'm coming!" He started fiddling with the lock to his cage, but when it didn't budge, he started ramming his shoulder against the cage wall, trying to get it to roll out of the plane.

"What the…?" Then there was another man, and he noticed our struggles to get back together. He walked over to Tadeo's cage and brought him over to me. We both calmed down, ever so slightly, and stepped as close together as we could get. "I'll take them both." The new man said handing a packet of bills to the hated man. "The canary will sell easy around here. She's a pretty little thing. And the bird of Paradise can go on the Black market for a lot." They shared a laugh and the cages were picked up and put in another van.

There was in fact a window in the van that I was able to look out of, and I gasped. There were _no _trees. Anywhere. All that I could see was buildings, buildings, and more buildings. I had _never _seen so many buildings, skyscrapers, cars or humans in my entire life! Rio had a lot of people and buildings, but whatever city **this** was, topped it. Everything was completely foreign to me; the humans all looked different from each other… other ethnicities I supposed… the buildings' architecture was different than those in Rio as well. I listened, but didn't hear any music playing anywhere, which made me even more sad. I knew instantly that we must be, unfortunately, far from Rio. My home was known for the cultural music that was played by random people throughout the whole city.

"Ugh…" I sighed and flopped down in the cage.

"What is it Gwyn?" Tadeo asked gently. His cage was a little below mine and he couldn't see out the window.

"There are no trees. Anywhere. And there are just buildings and cars and people everywhere else." I placed my face in my wings, "What are we going to do?"

"Don't worry, doce. We'll figure it out." He comforted and patted my foot. I looked down at him and saw that undying spark of hope in his eyes, which made me smile. _I see why mom loves you so much; you have so much hope and happiness, no matter what. _ I thought. Mom always told us stories about Kingdom Paradise and Uncle Tadeo, and she always emphasized how hope could drive an army.

"Thanks Tadeo. You're the best!" I reached down through the bars and hugged him best I could. Then the truck screeched to a halt and the door was thrown open, and we were carried inside. The man placed Tadeo and I on the counter and used a strange tool to put a tight rubber band around Tadeo's beak. The first man must have told this one about what happened in Rio.

"Mmmmhmmmgmph!" He snarled best he could before the man opened the cage door and reached inside. Immediately he started pecking and clawing at the man's hand, but was backed up against the back wall. Then with his other hand the man held a needle and was moving towards my uncle's back…

"Tadeo, look out!" I cried but was too late. The man snapped his wrist and the pointed end of the needle pricked my uncle on his back. Suddenly my uncle started to sway and fell forwards, unconscious. "No!" I screamed and threw myself at my cage door.

"Shh! Little one! He's not dead!" He turned to me and opened my cage door and quickly grabbed me. "He's just sleeping so he doesn't hurt himself when I move you." Then he carried me away from my uncle and to a bigger cage. When he shut the door I threw myself at it again, trying to get back to Tadeo. Then the man left and shortly returned with my uncle. Gently he removed the rubber band and opened the door. I thought about flying out, but I couldn't leave family; so I sat there as he lay him on the floor of the cage.

"There's a good girl. Now all we have to do is wait until tomorrow and find you a nice new home." He said gently.

"I don't want a _new _home! I want to _go _home!" I screamed at him, but I knew it was no use; he didn't understand me. Then I sighed, sliding to the floor, my back to the wall, and my uncle's head at my feet. The cage was tall and there was some room for us to fly around in, but not much. A perch for me to sit or swing on, plenty of baubles and toys hung from the bars, even a mirror so we could stare at ourselves. I rolled my eyes; I was determined to not go crazy! I then pulled my knees up to my chest and sighe2d sadly. "I miss home…" I murmured feeling the shadow of sadness rolling in.

Then a flitting shadow caught my eye, and I shot my gaze up at the picture window outside the cage. A canary that looked similar to me, but had brown speckles on his wings, burnt brown wing tips, and a few white streaks throughout, was hovering outside. He had his wings wrapped around his teal-green eyes to block the sunlight and make it easier to look inside. All in all he wasn't hard to look at, but I wasn't thinking about that at the moment.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion at the boy. "What's he doing?" I thought. Suddenly, he made eye contact with me. We stared into each other's eyes for a few moments and then he smiled softly. Something suddenly distracted him, because he looked back and forth between me and someone else she couldn't see. He said something to his hidden companion, turned back to me and Tadeo and smiled again softly. He then raised a wing, saluted us and abruptly flew off.

"Wait!" I called instinctively, standing immediately, but of course I couldn't be heard. I finished my question just as he disappeared, "Where am I?"

* * *

"Yo, Ty! What's the rush, dude?" the Eastern Bluebird called after his fast-flying canary friend.

Tyler smiled, calling over his shoulder, "Relax Kirby! I just got a hot tip that a plane landed from South America about half an hour ago!"

The seventeen year old pumped his wings harder in his excitement, adding, "Who knows what exotic birds have been brought!"

Kirby flapped rapidly and finally caught up to his rocket of a friend, "Why is it such a big deal anyway? Since you've been reading online about South America, you've been going crazy!"

Tyler raised an eyebrow as he said, "You know how much I want to travel"

"If your parents will let you go, that is."

The canary frowned, "Thanks for the reminder." He sighed, "They can't keep me home forever; I'm seventeen. I have to leave the nest eventually. I won't be living with my parents until I'm thirty!"

"Or older," Kirby snorted.

Tyler rolled his eyes but smiled. Then his eyes lit up when he saw the pet store a few blocks down. "There it is! Come on!" He exclaimed, flapping harder to get there faster.

As he followed, Kirby grumbled under his breath, "Slow down! Geez, it isn't like the store is going anywhere."

Kirby landed on top of the "P" in the store's sign while Tyler fluttered in front of the window, looking inside.

"Hurry up, dude. We're both a couple of pretty dashing birds, so I'm sure this store keeper would love to throw us in a cage too." Kirby warned. He rolled his eyes when he realized his reckless friend wasn't paying attention. Tyler looked through the store window, observing the Brazilian birds that had just been put in their cages. They were so far away that he couldn't get a good look at them though, let alone be able to communicate with them.

Just as he was about to turn away, he noticed a pretty little canary with meadow green eyes sitting on the floor of a large cage in front of the window. She was staring up at him curiously, and at her feet lay a Raggiana Bird of Paradise, who looked like he was sleeping. He read the expression in her eyes though: sadness, pain, hopelessness... In that simple five second interval of staring into her eyes, Tyler knew one thing: he was going to get her out. A small smile crept onto his beak as a plan began to form in his mind...

"Ty!"

His head snapped to his left when Kirby's voice suddenly rang out above him. He looked at him questioningly with a half scowl.

"Dude, you're deaf!" Kirby sighed exhaustedly. "We need to get outta here, man."

"Oh, would you just relax-" Tyler replied calmly as he looked back at the captured girl.

"No, I won't relax! We shouldn't be here!" Kirby growled. Running a wing through his blue feathers, he added, "I'm leavin' in about ten seconds whether you're comin' or not."

Tyler rolled his eyes, "Fine." He again looked back at the girl; he gently smiled, threw her a salute and flew after his friend. Out of the corner of his eye however, he thought he saw her reach out to him.

_Don't worry, _He thought, wishing he had telepathic powers, _I'll get you out of there tonight._

* * *

Diego walked out of his room early the next morning quietly, knowing his family was still asleep. For the first time since Gwyn was smuggled two nights before, he was hungry, so he moseyed into the kitchen area in search of food. He was pleasantly surprised to see his mom already up and wide awake.

Upon hearing footsteps, she looked up from the table. "You're up early," She commented with a small smile.

Her only son nodded as he grabbed a piece of papaya and started slicing it. "Haven't eaten anything in three days… figured it might be a good time to start." She smiled a little bigger as he sat down. He merely stared at his plate, and his crest was a disheveled mess: a rare occurrence. Then again it was five a.m.…

He looked up at her and held up the plate toward her. She smiled and took a piece, and mother and son quietly ate the fruit for the next few minutes. Once the plate was empty, Diego glanced toward his parents' room, and asked quietly, "How's dad?"

Sonny looked down at the table, but replied softly, "He's alright." After a moment, she added, "He's actually on the back porch…he couldn't sleep."

Diego paused, and then asked, "What about you?"

His mom's eyes met his, and after another pause, she sighed, "I'm okay. I'm actually going out with Eva, Nora, Patty and Josie today to look around some more-"

"Is it even worth the time?" Diego asked quietly.

Sonora raised her eyebrows a tad and then replied, "I don't know if she is in Rio or not, Diego. But if she is, we need to find her."

"Dad has been looking non-stop for the past two days, mom." Diego said quietly. Making eye contact, he added, "How could she possibly still be here?"

Sonny sighed a little at his sad expression. Scooching closer to him, she held out her wings and he welcomed the hug. Through his tousled feathers, she murmured, "We need to have faith that everything will be okay, Diego." Then she half laughed and asked, "What did your dad always say when you were little?"

Diego sat up and smiled a little with a sniff, "As long as you can still sing, nothing is so bad."

His mom nodded. After planting a kiss on his forehead, she said, "We're going to be okay. Gwyn is shy, but she's smart. Wherever she is, she'll hold on to that. We just need to have faith too. Okay?" Diego nodded as a soft knock came from the door. Sonny got up and opened the door to reveal her search party. She smiled, "Come on in, girls." They complied, but stood in the doorway. Sonny retrieved her necklace from her and Nico's room, and upon returning, asked, "Do you girls want some food before we go?"

All shook their heads, Nora replying, "No but thanks; we ate before we came."

Sonny smiled and walked to the back door, "I'll be right back." As she stepped out onto the back porch, her shoulders slumped and her aching heart tore. Nico sat there staring down at the forest floor hopelessly. "Nico?" She asked quietly. Slowly he turned his head to face her, but no smile crept to his beak. Just sadness and despair were in his eyes.

"Hey sunshine." He murmured.

"I'm going out with the girls to have another look around, ok? I'll be back tonight." She walked over to him and placed a wing on his shoulder. "I love you Nico, and this isn't your fault." He hung his head again and couldn't bring himself to look at her. Sonora sighed, removed his bottle cap, placed a kiss on the top of his head, replaced the hat, and walked back inside.

"I'm sorry Sonny…" She barely heard him whisper, and had to resist the urge to run back to him and cry her eyes out all over again. She entered the hollow and paused in front of her son, thinking. Finally she said, "Diego, I need you to do something for me. Or well… try anyway." Diego raised his eyebrows, and she continued, "Can you see if you can get your dad to eat something? Like you, he hasn't eaten anything at all…" She tapered off.

Diego nodded and smirked, "Any specific time?

Sonora gave him a motherly look, "No, he's not a baby." Diego laughed a little as his mom tousled his feathers, but he quickly dodged.

"Mom, not the Crest!" He whined.

"What crest?" His Aunt Nora asked with a knowing smile.

Diego frowned and reached up to discover his beautiful crest's destruction. His eyes widened like saucers and he yelped. "See ya ladies!" He called, buzzing to his room.

The three mothers laughed, watching him quickly disappear. "Well, that was a first."

As they left, Diego frantically fixed his crest. A whopping twenty minutes later, it was back to its beautiful glory. He smiled at it, gave himself a thumbs-up and wink in the mirror, and then went to check on Selena. He smiled at her sleeping form. Her wing was thankfully healing well, and hopefully in the next month she'd be able to get back out and fly. He walked over and pulled the blanket over her bare shoulders, and went back to the kitchen.

Diego looked around, trying to figure out what his dad might want to eat. He spied some leftover orange, one of his dad's favorite fruits, so he sliced it up and put it on a plate. Walking to the back door, he took a deep breath and stepped into the dawn light.

He saw his dad sitting on the back branch calmly, looking at the forest floor with unmoving eyes. The normal spark in his eyes was gone, making Diego want to cower back into the confines of the hollow. But he remembered the fruit, so he swallowed thickly and approached his dad gently. "Dad?"

After a moment, Nico blinked and confusedly faced his son. With still no expression, he turned back toward the forest, but croaked, "Hey kiddo." He frowned and cleared his throat, not realizing how groggy his voice had been.

Diego frowned a little at how tired his dad sounded and looked. The day before, he and some other birds had taken the entire day to, again, search for Gwyn. He had returned late that night again empty-winged. Sonora had then made her exhausted and sleep-deprived mate go to bed, but apparently he hadn't stayed there very long. Nico's eyes were now totslly blood shot from exhaustion and lack of sleep.

Diego stepped closer and sat next to his dad; once comfortable, he held the plate toward Nico in the hopes he would accept it. Nico looked at it and then at his son's hopeful face. Nico looked away, but he had to smile and laugh a little under his breath.

"What?" Diego inquired.

Nico shrugged, "Your mom made you bring that out here didn't she?"

Diego smiled a little, "Yeah… but it doesn't matter who brought it really. You should eat it."

Nico looked at his son with a playful smirk, "Aren't we a little bossy today?"

Diego put on a serious face, "Someone's gotta make you eat." Nico rolled his eyes and shook his head, but took the plate. He took a bite of orange, suddenly realizing how starving he really was. Diego smiled and watched a few birds fly by, thankful that his dad was seemingly coming out of his stupor. When Nico had come home from searching for Gwyn, he hadn't really said much. A few minutes later, Nico's plate was empty and he set it between them. They sat there silently for another few minutes before Diego asked uneasily, "Where do you think she is?"

Nico's frown returned. He slowly took a deep breath and avoided eye contact, but replied quietly, "Not here."

Diego bit his lip, unsure what else to say. Nico continued, "If we're lucky, she's in the States."

Now Diego looked up and asked, "Why?"

Nico shrugged, "Then maybe she can at least be a pet or something, as awful as that sounds." They shivered, "Being a pet wouldn't be easy, but from what Blu has said, any pet could easily get out after a while. They become so accustomed to opening cages and stuff, learning how the humans' stuff works and all that." He shrugged again, "I think that would be one of the better scenarios for her to be in."

Diego nodded. Then he asked, "And if she's not in the States?"

Nico sighed a little and pushed his bottle cap off his forehead, "I don't know." Then there was a rush of feathers to their right and both looked up to see…Tico. He looked exhausted and scared.

"Tico…What are you doing here?" Nico managed to snap out of his melancholy for a moment.

"You've got to help me. My dad's been taken." Both of the canary's beaks fell open and, of course, at that very moment the girls decided to fly back by on their way to search the beach.

Sonny looked over at her home, expecting to see her mate sitting alone on the back branch, but instead she saw Tico and her son there as well. "What in the world?" She murmured and sored over to them. Nico and Diego's beaks were still agape, so she turned to her nephew. "Tico? Do you need…?"

"Please help me!" He fell to his knees in exhaustion, and in sadness, "My dad's gone."

* * *

I sat huddled in the corner, under my uncle's slack wing, sadly. Tadeo still hadn't woken up, but I could tell that the drug was wearing off, because he stirred every once and a while and I heard him murmur some things. Since our capture, I had managed to keep myself together and not cry. But finally all of my homesickness and fear spilled over and I couldn't help but cry for a whole hour. The water works finally ran dry, and the sobs stopped shuddering through my body, and now I only rubbed my tired, wet eyes sleepily.

I thought of my family, now, and how they were coping with our disappearance. Selena was probably crying her eyes out, not only because we were close, despite our opposite personalities, but because her wing was broken. She had to be in a lot of pain outwardly and inwardly. Diego was probably staring off into space, trying to figure out a solution. He was rational just like dad and he always tried to think of some way to make a situation better. I sighed when I thought of how sad he would be when he would realize that nothing he could ever do would help our family.

Then pictures of mom came to my mind…I sniffed and sighed. I hoped she was ok. Mom was level headed, but when it came to dad or us, there was no hesitation, just immediate action. Like two year ago at Carnival, she had made them all go home and had gone out herself to find Diego, and the cockatoo… Btu how was she reacting now, that I was gone, and she had no way to find me? I could only pray that she was ok.

And dad…_here come the stupid tears again_… I was wings-down daddy's girl. Sel and Diego were always a bit more independent then myself, so I got the chance to spend more time with my parents, mainly my dad. All I wanted to do was to sit in his lap, and cry my heart out into his shoulder while he just whispered soft gibberish to me, trying to get me to calm down. But I would never get to do that ever again…

I choked on a sob again and buried my face in my knees, hugging them tightly. I just wanted to shut out the whole world because mine had officially ended…

"Are you okay?" A boy's voice quietly asked from in front of me. I jerked my head up and my eyes flew open. Just outside the cage door was the boy that was at the window earlier that afternoon. He looked back and forth between my uncle and I sympathetically. I didn't have words, everything was just too confusing, but when he stepped closer, I scooted further under Tadeo's wing and tried my best to choke back my tears.

"Hey, it's okay." He said in a gentle voice. "I'm going to get you out of here."

I curiously watched him as he jumped up onto the lock and began to pick it. I noticed the certain way he turned his talon in the hole, and a few slight grunts later, the lock snapped open; he pulled it off and dropped it to the floor as he simultaneously swung the door open and looked at me expectantly. I cocked my head to the side and stared at him.

He looked around nervously, apparently checking for the human. Then he sighed slightly and stepped inside the cage. I gasped and tried to burrow my way into Tadeo's feathers. My wing slipped, though, and I fell into him. With a grunt, my uncle's eyes finally opened.

"What? Where?" He gasped and took a moment to wake up. Then he noticed the boy and bristled. "Who are you?!" He growled.

The boy stopped and now looked terrified. Somehow, then, my voice found me. "I think he's trying to help…" I murmured and stepped out from under the bird of paradise's wing. I knew my mom would be brave, so I decided to think like her.

"TY!" A voice called from further back in the building.

"Oh no…" The boy snapped his gaze towards the back door. I could see a shadow moving across the wall, and it was not a bird. "Ok, listen, both of you," The boy turned back to us, "Can you fly?"

"Of course!" Tadeo snarled. I merely nodded.

"Ok I need you to follow me and be as quiet and careful as you can if you want to get out of here."

"Lead the way." I stepped out of the hated cage, followed by my uncle and then the boy. Quickly he flew up to the rafters and hid in the shadows. I was a little wobbly from lack of food, water, and actual sleep, but I managed a very un-steady flight up to the rafters. Tadeo was malnourished as well, but he was a bigger bird and was able to fly normally.

"Do you need help sobrinha doce (sweet neice)?" Tadeo crooned when I finally got to the top rafter.

"Not yet." I panted and slouched against his wing.

"Ok, the human is going to come through that door, and we're gonna fly out and through the open window in the back. Got it?" The boy asked.

"I'll not take another order from one such as you," Tadeo was still being incredibly protective, "Until I at least know your name." The boy appeared shocked, but shrugged.

"I'm Tyler." He smiled as we relaxed a bit, then motioned for silence as the door creaked open. "Ok here we go." As the human came through the door, leaving it ajar, Tyler sored silently off the rafter and paused at the opening, looking back at us.

"Get on my back doce." Tadeo instructed, and I complied. I knew I couldn't fly too quietly right now and knew he was right. As soon as I was situated he silently dropped off the rafter and we sored past the boy and out the open window. We were FREE!


	6. Chapter 6: Bad News Good Friends

**Chapter 6**

**Bad News; Good Friends**

"What?" I gasped. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach from the news the prince of Kingdom Paradise brought to us.

"We were flying back to our temporary hollow after making a quick visit back home to get some things for mom, and all of the sudden a net fell out of the sky and caught us both." Tico choked, holding back his sobs. My mind was reeling, but I managed to hold it together for a little longer, as my nephew continued, "He managed to cut the part that was around me before the humans got there, but he couldn't get the dumb thing off himself before they grabbed him."

"Where did they go?" I asked on the verge of curling up into a ball and just giving up on life in general.

"The horrible humans threw him in a little cage and chucked him in the back of a big pickup truck, then drove away. We both tried to fight, but it was no use." That was all I could take; I started to breathe heavily and spots appeared in front of my eyes.

"Sonny?" I heard Nico ask gently and I sort of saw him step forward.

"Not Tadeo too…" I breathed, then my world went black.

* * *

"Sonora!" I shouted as she pitched forward and started falling out of the tree. I shot under the branch and managed to catch her wing before she plummeted to the ground. "Diego!" I shouted up to my son, "Help me get her inside!" Soon he joined me and grabbed her other wing. Together we carried her up to the back branch where we set her down momentarily. I then scooped her up into my wings and carried my dear Sonny into our hollow where I lay her on the couch. I barely noticed Diego and Tico follow me inside.

I placed a kiss on her forehead, and couldn't help but sigh. We had lost our daughter, and now the "beloved" Tadeo. _Come now, Nico,_ My mind scolded, _He's got a mate and a chick now too, and Sonny loves him like a brother, nothing more. _I thought back to the night of the chick's birthday, and remembered what she had told me. With that thought I was able to swallow my jealousy and clear my still fuzzy mind enough to turn back to the boys.

"Is she alright?" Tico asked.

"She's in shock right now," I replied and swallowed the lump that formed in my throat, "Gwyn's missing too."

"What?!" Tico gasped, "Not minha prima pequena doce (my sweet little cousin)! What about Selena? Is she alright?"

"She's got a broken wing from trying to fight the humans that took Gwyn, but it's healing really well." Diego explained as I walked into the kitchen to get a rag and couple of empty buckets.

"Thanks to Albert's expertise, yes." I said and handed a bucket to Tico. "First of all, have you told your mother about Tadeo's capture?"

"Yes. She rushed home, to do what I don't know, but she said that she would get dad back, even if it killed her."

"Interesting..." I murmured, then there was a knock at the door. Diego moved to get it but I said, "How about you two got and get some water in those buckets for the girls, and be careful."

"Yes sir, Uncle Nico, sir!" Tico saluted and swooped out the door.

"We'll be back in a minute," Diego nodded, "See ya!" Then he too was gone. I nodded to myself, then turned to the door, which was still being relentlessly knocked upon. I walked over and opened the door to see... "Carlos?" The other canary stood there with a scowl on his face, and his wings crossed over his chest. "Ummm, Hi." I managed a small smile and greeting.

"Hello," Carlos replied curtly. "I need to speak with your son if that's alright."

I was surprised that the guy said '_if_ that's alright' instead of demanding it. I was about to nod when the thought hit me. I closed my beak, stepped out and closed the door behind me softly. Carlos started to object, but I held up my wing and interrupted calmly, "Now hold on, I want to talk to you before you possibly head his bite off." Carlos raised an eyebrow and I, realizing I had switched my words around, slapped my wing to my face and sighed, "Sorry…it's been a long week…"

I coughed, trying to rejuvenate my voice, but to no avail. I only spent a moment longer to gather my thoughts, but it was then that Carlos asked softly, "Is everything alright?"

I looked at him skeptically, because of our past…problems, but I couldn't hold eye contact for long. I took a deep breath and sighed heavily, looking at my feet. "No." I rubbed my tired eyes, then explained, "Two nights ago, my daughters and a friend of theirs were attacked by humans. They broke Selena's wing…" I paused, "and smuggled Gwyn. We…haven't been able to find her since."

Carlos took a minute to think, I supposed, and then asked, "So you have no idea where she is?" I shook my head. "Where have you looked?"

I crossed my wings tiredly, "Pretty much anywhere you can think of that is in the province of Rio." After a moment, I added, "I looked for two days straight and finally had to crash before I fell out of the sky…" I tapered off, my mind thinking about poor Sonny.

Carlos nodded, understanding where I was going, but I decided to change the subject, "So Diego missed his date with Lillie, right?"

Carlos nodded again, "Yes, I wanted to talk to him to ask why because Lillie was upset. But this is obviously a legitimate reason." He smiled softly, which was a strange sight to me. I nodded in understanding. "Can I still talk to him?" Carlos asked politely.

"Oh yeah!" I waved my wing, "I just wanted to explain to you what's going on because-"

"I might 'head his bite off'?" Carlos smirked.

I smiled, but it faded quickly, "No, I'm honestly waiting for him and Sel to break down. It's obviously tough now, but… within the next week, it's going to strike home that… she's not here."

Carlos nodded again, "I understand." After a moment's thought, he added, "We'll look around on the east side, but I can't guarantee we'll find anything."

I smiled gratefully, "Thanks." Then I turned and opened the door, leading Carlos inside. "Actually, I just sent him and Tico to get some water…" I shot a glance at Sonny, still unconscious on the couch.

"What happened?" Carlos breathed, clearly shocked at the fact that my mate had the capacity of sleep.

"Tadeo was smuggled too…" I said.

"You mean that frilly 'adventurer' that disappeared all those years ago?" Carlos guffawed. I felt a strange feeling of agreement, yet resentment towards the other canary as he said this.

"He's technically my brother-in-law, so watch it." I hissed under my breath.

"Excuse me?" Carlos asked, semi politely. I turned back to him, just as Tico, Diego, and a surprise Manny came through the back door, each with a bucket of water in their talons.

"Got the water, dad." Diego informed me as he moved all the buckets behind the counter. Then when he turned around, he almost jumped out of his feathers. His wings flew to his head, "OH MY GOSH! I FORGOT!" After a second of shock, he continued, "I am SO sorry!" He rushed forward to face Carlos.

To my great shock, Carlos smiled a little, "Now now, calm down! I'm not going to yell at you. Your dad already told me what happened and it's obviously a very good reason for forgetting."

Diego visibly relaxed and sighed heavily, "Oh so…I'm not dead meat then?"

Carlos shook his head, "Nope. You can still take Lillie out." He paused for a moment as my son seemed to glow from the good news, then continued, "I'll fly home and tell her everything that has happened. She'll probably want to come over…" At that thought, he looked at me.

I waved a wing, "Oh it's fine; she can come over whenever she wants."

"Alright," After a moment of awkward silence, Carlos said, "Well, I'd best be getting home. Good luck and we'll keep our eyes open."

I nodded with a smile, "Thanks."

Diego opened the door and said, "Bye!"

"Goodbye," Carlos nodded to me, then took off.

Diego closed the door, looked at me and sighed, "And once again, you save my feathers."

Nico smiled, "Anything for my boy." Then I looked over at the other boys. "Well, would you look at who it is?" I grinned and stepped over to Manny, "It's Superbird!"

"If I was Superbird, Gwyn would still be here, and Sel wouldn't be broken." Manny sighed.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, camarada!" Tico said, clapping him on the back. "You tried your best, and you saved your girl!"

"Yeah, but I lost her sister!" Manny slumped on a stool. I managed a fatherly smile and went over to him.

"Hey." I said softly, and he looked up at me, "I _know_ you didn't come here to be all gloomy, you came here to see Sel. So wipe that frown off your face before she wakes up!"

"Dad?" Selena asked, as if on cue, walking in from her room. We all turned, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Manny's face break into a huge grin, and when Sel finished rubbing her sleepy hazel eyes, she gasped. "MANNY!" The boy ran over to her and scooped her up in his wings. I could tell he was squeezing her to his chest, as I had so many times with Sonny, but he had her broken wing to him, and she cried out in pain.

"Oh!" Manny gasped and immediately let go. "I'm so sorry Sel!"

"No no, it's ok." She groaned, "Umm, dad…" She looked over at me.

I turned to her, "Yeah sweetie?"

She winced, "Is there any more of that medicine from Dr. Albert?"

"Umm, I thought your mom said there was some left-"

"It's up there, dad." Diego pointed.

I looked up on a shelf right in front of my face. "Oh." Grabbing the packet of medicine, I shook my head tiredly. "I have GOT to go to bed."

"This is true," Diego smirked, and Selena giggled. I frowned at him as I sliced the webbing away from the piece of medicine.

"You're not supposed to agree, you're supposed to tell me I look fine, _and_ that I'm the coolest dad ever!" I replied with a sideways grin.

Diego and Sel looked at each other with weird, amused expressions and then burst out laughing. I chuckled as well, then, with an exasperated whine, dropped my head on the table, "I'M SO TIRED!" My bottle cap fell upside down onto the table with a *clink*.

Diego was holding his stomach, "Well, even dads need their beauty sleep!"

Nico lifted his head and frowned, "Beauty sleep?"

Selena called out, still laughing, "Alright, stop! All this laughing is making the pain worse!" Manny was laughing from where he stood behind her, and at her comment wrapped his wings around my little girl and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Oh yeah," I mumbled, handing Sel the cube of medicine. She held it dumbly, looking at it, then at her snickering brother, and then up at my confused expression.

"What?" I asked.

Sel smiled, trying not to laugh, "Umm…you know I can't just eat this right? I have to have it mixed in with food?"

My face fell as everyone burst out laughing. I put his face in my wings with a groan, "And this is why I am not a mother."

* * *

WE WERE FREE! Tadeo swooped and spiraled around screaming "Estamos livres!" At the absolute top of his lungs. I was laughing uncontrollably at the incredible feeling of the wind in my feathers again! It was cool, and cleared my mind enough for me to be able to think. Then I remembered the boy.

"Tadeo!" I called over the rush of wind, "What about the boy? Is he ok?" I called.

"I don't know, doce." Tadeo sang out, flaring his wings to slow down. We both looked back to see him pumping his wings as hard as he could to catch us.

"Whew," The boy panted a she caught us, "You mind if we land and I'll explain some things?"

"Of course, but may I ask one thing?" Tadeo said as we followed the boy to the top of a building, "What is your name?" At this the boy smiled.

"I'm Tyler." He replied as we landed, "And you are?" He held out a wing to help me climb off Tadeo's back, but I was going to jump down and didn't see him in time, and ended up tackling him to the ground. An immediate crimson blush flooded to my face.

"Ummm, I'm Gwyn." I giggled nervously and rolled off him, "And uh…sorry about that."

"Not a problem." Tyler replied with a smile, then turned to Tadeo, "And you sir?" He seemed to be scrutinizing my uncle, examining every detail about him as though he was the first Bird of Paradise he'd ever seen.

My uncle ruffled up to his full height and nearly twice his normal size and replied, "I am Tadeo Paradise, King of Kingdom Paradise, and uncle to this dear girl here." He motioned to me and I walked back over to my uncle and he wrapped his wings around me as I had started to shiver. It was so much colder here than home. I ruffled up my feathers in a chance to warm up a bit, but it didn't help much.

"So where are you birds from?" Tyler blurted. I looked at him curiously, and felt an overwhelming pang of homesickness. Tears welled in my eyes and I had to fight the lump in my throat. "I mean I know Kingdom Paradise is supposedly in the Amazon, which is in Brazil, but you can't be from there can you?"

"Actually we are!" I snapped, furious that I was crying in front of this boy. _Why do I always get so emotional? _ I screamed on the inside. I wiped away the tears and tried my best to calm down. "We're from Rio…" At the sound of my home rolling off my tongue, it all hit me. "And now we're here…" That was all it took. I burst in to tears and buried my face in my uncle's chest.

"Enough, out of you for the day." My uncle growled defensively at Tyler.

"No!" He flinched as my uncle glared daggers at him, but squared his shoulders and continued, "I won't ask any more questions ok? I know where you can stay." I turned and looked at him questioningly, wiping away my infuriating tears and sniffling a little.

"What?" I barely managed to say.

"You can come to my place, then we'll figure out a plan in the morning." Tyler replied bravely.

"We couldn't intrude…" Tadeo softened his voice, suddenly feeling the chill I did. This was NOT Rio.

"Don't worry about it!" Tyler replied with a grin. "We have plenty of room and I'm sure the guys wont object. We'll get you some food and water, and something to keep the chill off." He spread his wings and turned towards the city. "Follow me."

"Do you want to ride?" Tadeo asked me gently. I _almost_ said yes, but there was some stubborn part of me that made me shake my head and spread my wings.

"I'll try to fly." I told him with a soft smile. He gave a half laugh and shook his head.

"This way!" Tyler called and I leapt off the branch and started flapping. At first It was a little hard, but then instinct kicked in and I was able to follow Tyler easily through the air until we came to a little warehouse in a bay, which reminded me a smidge of Copacabana Beach back home. My eyes stung, but I forced myself to think of it happily, and the tears went away. We flew through a large rusted hole in the metal door of one of the warehouses and What I saw was very interesting.

Three other birds were seated around a small fire they had built in the center of four shabby tents. One was an ancient robin, with dirty feathers and a ragged scarf around his neck. Another was a northern lapwing, with his little crest sticking straight up in the cold. And the third was an eastern bluebird with well-groomed feathers, but a ragged vest and scarf on to keep warm. Upon our appearance the bluebird looked up and cheered.

"Bird, I thought you weren't gonna make it!" He cried and tackled Tyler to the ground in a bro hug.

"Kirby! I'm fine! But…I can't… BREATHE!" Tyler gasped as the bluebird let go and stood and stepped back. I stepped over and offered Tyler a wing. He took it with a nod and stood. "Thanks."

"Sure thing." I replied with a smile. Then I looked at the birds around the fire. The robin was looking me up and down like I wasn't real, and the lapwing just stared with his mouth open. "So where are we?" I shivered and wrapped my wings around myself. Taddy came up behind me and wrapped one of his large wings around me as well.

"This is Camp…I guess." Tyler shrugged and swept his wing around the room. "And these are my friends." The bluebird stepped up and took my wing in his, planting a kiss there.

"I'm Kirby." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and grinned and I blushed a bit. Then I laughed out loud when Tyler shoved him out of the way.

"She just got here! Jeez!" He hissed at his friend. Kirby just made a face and stepped back as the robin came forward.

"I am Eugene Robin. Welcome to our humble camp." He bowed lightly at the waist, and I smiled.

"I'm Gwyn Marie Canary, it's a pleasure to meet you." I returned his bow with a slight curtsy. Eugene beamed and stepped back to allow the lapwing to step forward. He was very jumpy and seemed to always be looking over his shoulder.

"I am Emile." He said with a thick French accent. "It is a pleasure, no?" He too took my wing and planted a kiss there, but it was far less embarrassing than what Kirby had done. "I am very lost. I was just flying over the bay, and suddenly, whoosh!" He made the noise and spun around flaring his wings and jumped back several feet, "I land here in America."

My eyes got wide and the whole room started to spin, "A-A-America? As in the United States?" I gasped.

"New York to be exact." Eugene added calmly. That was all I could take, I started seeing spots, and my knees felt weak. Then my world went black.


End file.
